By Karl Quinn
A new trailer for Francis Ford Coppola’s self-funded epic Megalopolis has been pulled by US studio Lionsgate following claims that the derisive quotes from critics it contained were fakes.
The trailer appeared online on Wednesday, but within 24 hours had disappeared from Lionsgate’s website and YouTube channel, though it could still be found on secondary sites.
Adam Driver as Cesar in Francis Ford Coppola’s extravagant Megalopolis.
Crafted in response to the negative reviews that have greeted the film since its debut at Cannes in May, the trailer opened with the sonorous voice of Laurence Fishburne, who also appears in and narrates the film itself, saying “true genius is often misunderstood”.
To illustrate the point, the screen is then filled with a cascade of quotes from film critics in response to Coppola’s earlier works.
From 1972, we have Andrew Sarris of The Village Voice describing The Godfather as a “sloppy self-indulgent movie” and Pauline Kael of The New Yorker saying it is “diminished by its artsiness”. From 1979, we get Apocalypse Now being dismissed as “a spectacular failure” by John Simon in the National Review, “hollow at the core” by Vincent Canby in The New York Times, and “an epic piece of trash” by Rex Reed in the Daily News.
Coppola’s 1992 gothic horror Bram Stoker’s Dracula is judged to be “a triumph of style over substance” by Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times, while Rex Reed, again (but now at the New York Observer) decrees it “falls flat”.
A seemingly faked review quote for Apocalypse Now, as seen in the now-pulled trailer for Megalopolis.Credit: Utopia
The point of the round-up of hit jobs is both to remind audiences of Coppola’s spectacular back catalogue and to illustrate that the critics, some of the biggest names in the business from a time when the views of a film critic still meant something, have repeatedly misjudged Coppola’s work at the moment of its first appearance, only for time to judge it much more favourably later.
The implication being that while Megalopolis is currently being seen as a bit of a Megaflopolis, it will eventually be regarded as a masterpiece, so catch it now and be ahead of the curve.
“One filmmaker has always been ahead of his time,” intones Fishburne. “Now, from visionary writer and director FFC comes an event nothing can prepare you for.”
However, as Variety first reported, and other outlets soon echoed, “the problem, and it’s a pretty massive one, is these quotes don’t actually appear in any of the cited reviews”.
Film reviewer Roger Ebert (right) with professional partner Gene Siskel.
According to Variety, “Ebert’s quote calling Dracula a ‘triumph of style over substance’ is actually pulled from his 1989 review of Batman”.
Ouch. Can we even be sure that really is Fishburne’s voice, and not some AI-generated version of it? Hmm.
To pull the trailer so soon appears at first glance to be a hugely embarrassing admission that there has been a mighty snafu. But while that might indeed be the case, there is already a whispered counter-narrative in the industry that this might have been the intention all along.
As part of its agreement to distribute the film, Lionsgate insisted that Coppola carry the marketing costs himself, an extremely unusual arrangement that would likely cost him $US15-$20 million on top of the $US120 million it has reportedly cost him to finance the production itself.
To handle the marketing, Coppola appointed Utopia, a company founded by Robert Schwartzman, brother of actor and musician Jason and son of actress Talia Shire, both of whom appear in the film. Schwartzman is also the nephew of Coppola. Shire starred as Connie Corleone in The Godfather films.
Deadline reported earlier this month that “Utopia will create and implement specialty marketing, word-of-mouth, and non-traditional theatrical distribution initiatives targeting moviegoers”.
Coppola himself was quoted as saying “Utopia … have proven that there is success in an artist-first approach while also making bold moves, especially at a time when our film business often shies away from daring endeavours. I know Utopia will help Megalopolis discover untapped audiences and opportunities for its theatrical launch alongside Lionsgate.”
Does that extend to fake quotes and a trailer designed to be pulled, with all the attendant coverage it might generate? Is this an embarrassing snafu or a stroke of marketing genius?
If there is any grain of truth to this trailer, it might be years before we know for sure.
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