Apocalypse now The science fiction passion project of director Francis Ford Coppola Megalopolis remains one of Hollywood’s biggest train wrecks. The latest derailment was a trailer that had to be pulled to fake quotes. It is now reported that, surprise, the trailer quotes were generated by AI.
Where should I start? Megalopolis? In short, it is an exciting but high-budget arthouse film with an eclectic but star-studded cast, led by Adam Driver, about an architect facing an existential crisis in a futuristic city. Coppola has apparently wanted to make the film for decades and even sold part of his vineyard to finance the $120 million budget. His shared criticism with an approximately 50 percent at Rotten Tomatoes and Coppola was accused of inappropriate behavior on set, including a video in which he kisses female extras.
Then this week a trailer came out in which famous film critics panned several of Coppola’s previous films, such as Dracula by Bram Stoker. “Diminished by his artistry,” is a quote attributed to Pauline Kael about The Godfather for The New Yorker that flashes on the screen and tries to make the point that any recent negative press around Megalopolis is similarly wrong. The only problem is that Kael never wrote it. diversity now reports that’s what generative AI did.
“Sources tell diversity “It was not Lionsgate’s or Egan’s intention to invent quotes, but rather a failure to carefully review and verify the wording provided by the consultant,” the report said. “It appears that AI was used to generate the critics’ false quotes.”
Lionsgate has not commented on the allegation, but has parted ways with Eddie Egan, the marketing consultant now blamed for the embarrassing controversy. “Lionsgate is recalling our trailer for Megalopolis“, the company distributing the film announced earlier this week. “We sincerely apologize to the critics involved, as well as to Francis Ford Coppola and American Zoetrope, for this inexcusable error in our review process. We messed up. We’re sorry.”
Megalopolis comes to theaters on September 27th and I’m morbidly curious.
