'Megalopolis' trailer pulled offline

Lionsgate has announced recalling its latest trailer for Francis Ford Coppola‘s epic “Megalopolis,” due to fabricated quotes from film critics.

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The trailer, released on August 21, provided an insight into Coppola’s latest film and an attempt to show it as a work of art, much like his previous movies such as “The Godfather” and “Apocalypse Now.”

However, the fake quotes from notable film critics led the studio to pull the trailer offline, according to Variety.

“Lionsgate is immediately recalling our trailer for ‘Megalopolis.’ 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. We screwed up. We are sorry,” a spokesperson for Lionsgate said in a statement.

Reports said that the trailer featured several quotes from critics about Francis Ford Coppola’s previous work, but those phrases were not found in any of their reviews.

According to Variety, its film critic Owen Gleiberman was also incorrectly cited in the trailer.

“Even if you’re one of those people who don’t like critics, we hardly deserve to have words put in our mouths. Then again, the trivial scandal of all this is that the whole ‘Megalopolis’ trailer is built on a false narrative,” Gleiberman said following his fabricated quotes in the trailer.

Read more: Francis Ford Coppola’s opus ‘Megalopolis’ finally debuts at Cannes after decades

“Critics loved ‘The Godfather.’ And though ‘Apocalypse Now’ was divisive, it received a lot of crucial critical support. As far as me calling ‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’ ‘a beautiful mess,’ I only wish I’d said that! Regarding that film, it now sounds kind,” he added.

Set to hit theatres on September 27, ‘Megalopolis’ continues embattled in a series of scandals.

The film got into a controversy last month when Variety obtained a video depicting Francis Ford Coppola trying to kiss young female extras on the set of the project.