A few weeks back Lionsgate released a trailer for Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis” which began with famed film critic quotes panning several of Coppola’s movie classics like “The Godfather” and “Apocalypse Now”.
People quickly realised the quotes were entirely fake (and ultimately revealed to be AI-generated), prompting the studio to pull said trailer a few hours later.
Lionsgate publically apologised to the public, critics cited, Coppola and his American Zoetrope company for the “inexcusable error in our vetting process”. The trailer has since been re-released after being recut with those quotes removed.
Speaking with Entertainment Tonight, Coppola was asked for his take on what happened, to which he responded:
“Well, I know that there were bad reviews. I’m the one that said that there were bad reviews. But, I don’t know. It was a mistake, an accident. I’m not sure what happened.”
The film itself is set to hit cinemas in two weeks and is expected to generate plenty of conversation when it does even as the box-office for the movie is looking tepid with a $4-6 million domestic opening expected.
The story unfolds in the City of New Rome which must change, causing conflict between Cesar Catilina (Adam Driver), a genius artist who seeks to leap into a utopian, idealistic future, and his opposition, Mayor Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito), who remains committed to a regressive status quo, perpetuating greed, special interests, and partisan warfare.
Torn between them is socialite Julia Cicero (Nathalie Emmanuel), the mayor’s daughter, whose love for Cesar has divided her loyalties, forcing her to discover what she truly believes humanity deserves.
Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Jason Schwartzman, Kathryn Hunter, Dustin Hoffman and Talia Shire co-star. “Megalopolis” opens in cinemas September 27th.
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