Weeks after Lionsgate was discovered to have used generated critics’ quotes for the trailer, a newer version is released with a new intro.
Lionsgate quickly seeks to rectify their controversial marketing blunder from a couple of weeks ago. The upcoming epic fantasy film from Francis Ford Coppola, Megalopolis, is certainly building an interesting buzz. Coppola, a filmmaker with an outside-the-box vision, made a film that studios couldn’t figure out how to promote to a mainstream audience. Lionsgate got the distribution deal and attempted to stay ahead of the negative word-of-mouth by releasing a trailer that featured alleged harsh quotes from critics when Coppola’s beloved past films had come out.
The studio was quickly called out for manifesting these quotes used in the trailer an pulled it from their official outlets. Lionsgate would also issue an apology. “Lionsgate is immediately recalling our trailer for Megalopolis,” said a Lionsgate spokesperson. “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.“ Now, a newly revised trailer has been released from Lionsgate without the quotes and the beginning is replaced with new artsy clips from the film while the narration retains Laurence Fishburne’s voiceover, “One filmmaker has always been ahead of his time.”
Additionally, a new one-sheet poster for the film has also been released and features more of the cast as well as some of the imagery from the movie. You can get a look at the new poster below.
Here’s the official synopsis for Megalopolis courtesy of Lionsgate:
“Megalopolis is a Roman Epic fable set in an imagined Modern America. The City of New Rome must change, causing conflict between Cesar Catilina, a genius artist who seeks to leap into a utopian, idealistic future, and his opposition, Mayor Franklyn Cicero, who remains committed to a regressive status quo, perpetuating greed, special interests, and partisan warfare. Torn between them is socialite Julia Cicero, the mayor’s daughter, whose love for Cesar has divided her loyalties, forcing her to discover what she truly believes humanity deserves.”
Megalopolis boasts a star-studded ensemble cast that includes Adam Driver, Forest Whitaker, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Chloe Fineman, Kathryn Hunter, Dustin Hoffman, DB Sweeney, Talia Shire, Jason Schwartzman, Bailey Ives, Grace Vanderwaal, and James Remar.
Megalopolis will be released in domestic theaters and IMAX on September 27.