Update: After an outcry over apparently fabricated quotes in the trailer, Lionsgate has taken the trailer offline. “Lionsgate is immediately recalling our trailer for ‘Megalopolis,'” a Lionsgate spokesperson told TheWrap. “We sincerely apologize to the critics involved, as well as to Francis Ford Coppola and American Zoetrope for this inexcusable error in our review process. We messed up. We are sorry.”
TheWrap’s original story follows below, but the video is currently unavailable.
Lionsgate on Wednesday released the new trailer for Francis Ford Coppola’s self-financed epic “Megalopolis,” ahead of its theatrical debut next month.
Written, produced and directed by Coppola, the film is a decades-long passion project for the Godfather filmmaker. It was certainly a big move, as Coppola had to sell part of his vineyard to finance the film’s $120 million budget himself. Reviews at the Cannes Film Festival were unkind, but this trailer takes advantage of the film’s divisiveness, pulling in (apparently false) quotes from critics who panned Coppola’s previous films, now considered masterpieces, such as The Godfather, Apocalypse Now and Dracula.
Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Jason Schwartzman and Grace VanderWaal star in this ambitious drama. Packed with Roman Empire references and oversized visual flourishes, Megalopolis pits an idealistic architect (Driver) against a powerful politician (Esposito) for control of a futuristic city.
In TheWrap’s film review, Ben Croll wrote, “This is a project full of operatic announcements, didactic repetitions and sprawling artistic ambitions — some of which have been realized, just as many of which have not — that makes little compromise for more down-to-earth concerns.” Sharon Waxman added, “It’s kind of ‘Batman,’ kind of ‘Gladiator,’ kind of ‘Tomorrowland,’ rolled up into a hodgepodge of ideas and images, and the Cannes audience didn’t know what to make of it.”
“Megalopolis” will be released in theaters and IMAX on September 27th.
