Trailer for Francis Ford Coppola'sMegalopolisRemoved by Studio Over Fake Movie Critic Quotes: 'We Screwed Up'

Mar. 15, 2025

Adam Driver in ‘Megalopolis’.Photo:Courtesy of Lionsgate

Courtesy of Lionsgate

“Lionsgate is immediately recalling our trailer forMegalopolis,” a Lionsgate spokesman told PEOPLE. “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.”

Megalopolis, which Coppola, 85, wrote, directed and produced with$120 million of his own money, costars Nathalie Emmanuel,Aubrey Plaza,Laurence Fishburne,Jon Voight,Grace VanderWaal,Shia LaBeoufandDustin Hoffman, plus Coppola’s sisterTalia Shireand her sonJason Schwartzman. It made a splash during itsdebutat theCannes Film Festivalin May, earning mixed reviews from critics and facingreportsof Coppola having engaged inallegedly inappropriate behavioron set.

The now-rescinded trailer features the list of quotes disparaging Coppola’s earlier works and a voiceover from Fishburne, intoning, “True genius is often misunderstood. One filmmaker has always been ahead of his time.”

Francis Ford Coppola in May 2024.Andreas Rentz/Getty

Andreas Rentz/Getty

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Megalopoliswill have its North American premiere at theToronto International Film Festivalin early September, before its Sept. 27 release.

source: people.com