“It Was an Accident!” Coppola Responds to Fake Megalopolis Trailer Reviews

The filmmaker acknowledges a “mistake” and takes some responsibility.

This is a misfire that has caused a lot of noise. A few days ago, a new trailer for Megalopolis reported negative comments on previous masterpieces by Francis Ford Coppola – as The Godfather Or Apocalypse Now – to explain that the filmmaker has often been misunderstood. That his genius has often only been validated after the fact. And so, if Megalopolis is poorly received by the press (which has been the case since the Cannes festival), it is because the critics are behind the times.

Except that the negative comments cited in the video are false. They were invented, fabricated and probably recovered by an AI on the web from bad sources. A huge communication error that forced the distributor Lionsgate to release an emergency apology press release. But Francis Ford Coppola had not yet reacted to the scandal.

He was interviewed by Entertainment Tonight last night. And while the director clearly doesn't want to elaborate on the subject, he seems to take some responsibility, even if he doesn't back down on the substance:

“I know there were bad reviews (at the time). I'm the one who said it, by the way (to the people at Lionsgate) that there had been bad reviews. But after that I don't know… It was a mistake. There was an accident. I don't know what happened…”

Implied are these negative reviews of his previous cult films. But they were not well received by the person in charge of making the trailer (who has since been fired).

Megalopolis will be released in theaters in France on September 25.