Lionsgate has cut ties with Eddie Egan, the marketing consultant behind the controversial Megalopolis trailer that featured fabricated quotes from well-known film critics, Variety reported. The studio pulled the trailer on Wednesday after it was revealed that the negative quotes attributed to the critics were false.

The trailer, which was intended to draw parallels between the critical reception of director Francis Ford Coppola’s critically acclaimed works and his latest project Megalopolis, included quotes that were never written by critics. For example, Pauline Kael was falsely quoted as criticizing The Godfather for being “diminished by its artistry,” despite praising the film. Likewise, Roger Ebert was falsely quoted as calling Bram Stoker’s Dracula a “triumph of style over substance,” despite his review being extremely positive.

Other notable inaccuracies included an alleged quote from Andrew Sarris, who allegedly criticized The Godfather as a “sloppy, self-indulgent movie,” an opinion not reflected in his actual review. The trailer also incorrectly attributed the “an epic piece of trash” comment about Apocalypse Now to Rex Reed, who was critical but did not use such harsh words.

In addition, Owen Gleiberman of Variety was misquoted in the trailer. Gleiberman expressed his frustration at the misuse of critics’ words, stating, “Even if you’re one of those people who doesn’t like critics, we hardly deserve to have words put in our mouths.”

Sources familiar with the matter revealed that the misleading quotes were not directly invented by Egan, but were generated by AI tools. The error was an oversight in the review process and not a deliberate attempt to deceive people.

Egan, who has worked with Lionsgate’s motion picture group chairman Adam Fogelson for more than two decades, has not commented on the situation. Fogelson and Egan worked together at Universal and STX before Egan’s freelance consulting career.

Lionsgate has officially apologized for the mishap. “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,” the studio said.

Despite the controversy, Megalopolis, a modern Roman epic starring Adam Driver, is set to hit theaters in September. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival this year and received mixed reviews.