'Megalopolis' trailer sparks controversy with fabricated quotes from film critics

There's no such thing as bad publicity — or is there?

The official trailer for Francis Ford Coppola's sci-fi epic "Megalopolis" dropped online Wednesday. The two-and-a-half-minute clip opened with a series of scathing critiques of Coppola's past works, including "The Godfather," "Apocalypse Now" and "Bram Stoker's Dracula."

"True genius is often misunderstood," the trailer's narrator says. "One filmmaker has always been ahead of his time."

The critics' roundup featured allegedly damning reviews from Pauline Kael of The New Yorker, Andrew Sarris of The Village Voice and Roger Ebert of the Chicago-Sun Times, among others. In one clip, Kael is quoted saying "The Godfather," an Oscar-winning crime drama, is "diminished by its artsiness."

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However, social media users quickly noticed that many of the quotes in the trailer were not included in the original film reviews. In a statement to USA TODAY, a Lionsgate spokesperson said the movie studio is "immediately recalling" the "Megalopolis" trailer.

"We offer our sincere apologies to the critics involved and to Francis Ford Coppola and American Zoetrope for this inexcusable error in our vetting process," the spokesperson said. "We screwed up. We are sorry."

As of publication, the trailer has been pulled from Lionsgate's official YouTube channel.

Despite its star-studded cast, which includes Adam Driver, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman, "Megalopolis" received mixed reviews during its May premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, with some calling the drama "staggeringly ambitious" and others dubbing the long-awaited movie "absolute madness."

'Megalopolis' trailer earns mixed reactions on social media

The "Megalopolis" trailer divided viewers on social media, many of whom scrutinized the use of fabricated quotes in the promotional clip.

"Did they just straight up fabricate that Pauline Kael quote? I’m reading her review, and I don’t see it," X user @Carzonfye wrote. "Also, she loved the movie lol."

"All the 'mean' critics' quotes in the MEGALOPOLIS trailer were made up and likely came from an erroneous ChatGPT answer. Incredible," New York Times columnist Kyle Buchanan wrote on X.

"Why are they making up quotes to get mad about in the Megalopolis trailer?" X user @SohamGadre wrote. "Also, it seems like the movie's marketing is very directed at 'online critics' (because) those are the only people who are going to actually go see it."

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Others praised the trailer for its snarky tone.

"The BALLS on Coppola to open the new megalopolis trailer like a diss track about people calling him a failure," @parker_gibbons wrote on X.

"Coppola making the latest 'Megalopolis' trailer mostly about telling his haters to suck it is proof positive that time has not passed him by," X user @craigcalcaterra wrote. "He's thoroughly of this moment in history."

"This MEGALOPOLIS trailer is breathtakingly tacky, vindictive, bitter, ridiculous (and) unhinged and I like it!" @fuzzyyarns wrote on X. "Hollywood marketing is so calculated, clinical (and) antiseptic."

"Megalopolis" is expected to be released in theaters on Sept. 27.

Contributing: Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY