Lionsgate has pulled the second trailer for Megalopolis after it was discovered that the review quotes featured in it had been fabricated, sparking a massive controversy. Thanks to its unique self-funded production, all kinds of behind-the-scenes drama, and early reviews promising a truly baffling moviegoing experience, Megalopolis is already one of the most talked-about movies of the year. Francis Ford Coppola covered the movie’s nine-figure budget out of his own pocket to finally bring his long-gestating passion project to life, but the initial reactions have suggested it’s not the game-changing masterpiece he set out to create.

Due to its unusual independent production and its unabashedly weird tone, Megalopolis initially struggled to secure a distribution deal. Coppola screened it for various studios and investors, but most of them got cold feet after watching what promises to be the wildest film of 2024. Megalopolis has since landed a distribution deal with Lionsgate, but the studio is struggling to market a movie that’s been fraught with every problem imaginable, from allegations of inappropriate on-set behavior to negative reviews from critics. The studio tried to incorporate the latter into the film’s tongue-in-cheek second trailer, but it backfired spectacularly.

Megalopolis’ Second Trailer Used Fake Review Quotes About Past Francis Ford Coppola Movies

The idea behind the trailer was pretty good; the execution, not so much

The second trailer for Megalopolis opens with negative review quotes about Coppola’s past classics – The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula – to show that they, too, were poorly received by critics and ended up being regarded as three of the greatest movies ever made. In theory, that’s a novel idea. Rather than trying to ignore the negative critical reception of Megalopolis, the trailer embraces it and demonstrates that the critics aren’t always right – especially when it comes to Coppola. It encourages viewers to ignore the reviews for Megalopolis and make up their own minds when it comes out.

But while the idea is good, the execution leaves a lot to be desired. Within hours of the trailer being posted, it was discovered that the review quotes had been fabricated (via Vulture). Pauline Kael of The New Yorker did not write that The Godfather was “diminished by its artsiness.” Andrew Sarris of The Village Voice did not, in fact, call it “a sloppy, self-indulgent movie” that “doesn’t know what it wants to be.” Vincent Canby of The New York Times didn’t describe Apocalypse Now as “hollow at its core.”

They’re all real critics who really reviewed the films for their respective publications – this isn’t a David Manning situation – but the quotes cited in the Megalopolis trailer are nowhere to be seen in their writings. It was a baffling choice to go ahead with this marketing campaign, because it’s easily verifiable. Most of those reviews are readily available in their original form, with the actual words that the critics actually wrote. The internet picked up on the fakery within a couple of hours of the trailer appearing online.

Lionsgate Pulled The New Megalopolis Trailer After The Fake Review Quotes Were Discovered

“We screwed up”

As soon as the Megalopolis trailer quotes were revealed to be fake, Lionsgate removed the trailer from its online outlets and released a statement of apology (via Variety). The studio apologized to the critics who were falsely quoted in the trailer and blamed an “inexcusable error in our vetting process.” Lionsgate ended its statement bluntly: “We screwed up. We are sorry.” Someone somewhere is responsible for fabricating the quotes, but Lionsgate has yet to identify the culprit. Between the Megalopolis trailer controversy and the critical and commercial failure of Borderlands, Lionsgate isn’t having a great month so far.

How The Critics Referenced In Megalopolis’ Trailer Actually Reviewed The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, & Bram Stoker’s Dracula

Most of the critics cited in the trailer actually gave the films positive reviews

A lot of the critics cited in the Megalopolis trailer actually wrote positive reviews for Coppola’s movies. The New Yorker’s Pauline Kael didn’t pan The Godfather; she deemed it to be “a great example of how the best popular movies come out of a merger of commerce and art,” a quote that’s frequently used in academic discussions of the film. Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly didn’t call Bram Stoker’s Dracula “a beautiful mess,” which sounds more mixed than negative, but he didn’t have many positive things to say about it, either.

Roger Ebert gave Bram Stoker’s Dracula three out of four stars. He praised the shadowy cinematography by Michael Ballhaus and the performances of Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, and Anthony Hopkins. He wrote that Coppola favors spectacle over storytelling, but also lauded the film’s “operatic” qualities. Ebert was much kinder to Coppola’s Dracula adaptation than his fabricated quote in the Megalopolis trailer makes out. It’s not a completely laudatory review, but the positive points far outweigh the negative points.

There Are Real Bad Reviews For Francis Ford Coppola’s Other Movies Megalopolis’ Marketing Could’ve Used

Coppola didn’t have to make up negative reviews; he’s gotten plenty over the years

The review quotes seen in the Megalopolis trailer might be fake, but there are legitimate negative reviews of all those movies that could’ve been used. Frank Rich wrote a negative review of Apocalypse Now for Time magazine; Tom Hibbert wrote a negative review of Bram Stoker’s Dracula for Empire. There are plenty of negative reviews of Coppola’s well-regarded films that the Megalopolis trailer could’ve used without making up fake ones. And not only that; there are even some genuine negative quotes in the reviews that the Megalopolis trailer cited.

Canby didn’t say that Apocalypse Now was hollow, but he did deride it as “profoundly anticlimactic intellectual muddle.” Ebert didn’t call Bram Stoker’s Dracula “a triumph of style over substance,” as the trailer claims (which doesn’t even sound like much of an insult; it sounds like a compliment to the style), but he did call it “an exercise in feverish excess,” which sounds much more derogatory. Gleiberman wrote that Bram Stoker’s Dracula “fails to deliver,” and that Coppola had “dressed up a classic tale in mesmerizing visual overkill without coming close to its dark heart.”

Kael was generally complimentary of The Godfather, but she also claimed its storytelling was “basic” and its visual symbolism was “obvious.” Sarris wrote that The Godfather’s core themes are “never satisfactorily developed,” and that the film is “about as unkind to the Mafia as Mein Kampf is to Adolf Hitler.” Why make up fake quotes when these pejorative gems are ripe for the picking? That last one is about as scathing as a film review can get – it’s much more damning than the fake quote included in the trailer.

Will Megalopolis’ Marketing Campaign Change With Future Trailers?

It’ll be tough for Megalopolis’ marketing campaign to recover after dropping the ball so hard

With the now-removed second trailer for Megalopolis, the studio’s marketing team leaned heavily into the misunderstood genius element of Coppola’s work. This was the best way they could find to spin Megalopolis’ own polarized reviews. But will that have to change now? Previously, the studio wanted to distance itself from the film’s critical reception. But now that they’ve been caught fabricating critic quotes, they’ll probably want to distance themselves from that, too. The making and marketing of Megalopolis has been a mess from start to finish – it might be more exciting to watch this unfold than the movie itself.

Source: Vulture, Variety

Megalopolis (2024)

4.0

Megalopolis, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, is a visionary 2024 film exploring the ambitious dream of reconstructing New York City into a utopia, following a devastating disaster. The narrative delves into the clash between the architect’s utopian vision and the political and personal turmoil that ensues. With a star-studded cast, the film examines themes of ambition, power, and the human spirit’s resilience against the backdrop of a futuristic metropolis.

Cast

Adam Driver , Forest Whitaker , Nathalie Emmanuel , Jon Voight , Laurence Fishburne , Aubrey Plaza , Shia LaBeouf , Jason Schwartzman , Grace VanderWaal , Kathryn Hunter , Talia Shire , Dustin Hoffman , D. B. Sweeney , Giancarlo Esposito

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