Coppola's "Megalopolis" rocked by AI scandal and leaked footage

Numerous scandals have recently surrounded the film Megalopolis. First, videos leaked showing the director kissing extras, and now there's an uproar following the release of a trailer that used fake quotes from critics. There's more to the story.

"Megalopolis" is a new film by Francis Ford Coppola, the creator of the legendary "Apocalypse Now." The production has been talked about for months. It was announced as an epic tale and one of the year's best films. The story concerns political ambitions and a romantic city governed by its own laws, for which Coppola funded £97 million from his own pocket. He sacrificed part of his shares in his family winery to make the film with a star-studded cast. Until now, "Megalopolis" was written about as a masterpiece and a film poised for significant success in cinemas worldwide. Then the troubling reports about Coppola's behaviour on set, where he reportedly hugged and kissed extras, started to emerge.

The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, but it's now entering wide distribution in cinemas. The American premiere is scheduled for 25 October. Now, with so much talk about the film due to various scandals, the audience might be larger than initially expected.

It all began with the release of a trailer that used several excerpts from critics' reviews. This is standard practice. However, journalists quickly realised that the quotes used in the trailer were fabricated. "Lionsgate is immediately recalling our trailer for Megalopolis," said a spokesperson for Lionsgate. "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."

Such a situation has never occurred before. The "blunder" was reported by all global media. However, the studio's apology did not end the matter. The fake quotes, purportedly from critics' reviews, were generated using artificial intelligence.

According to Variety, Lionsgate decided to end its collaboration with experienced marketing consultant Eddie Egan following the controversy. The false quotes were most likely generated by artificial intelligence, such as a chatbot similar to ChatGPT.

Lionsgate even tested how ChatGPT would handle generating negative opinions about other Coppola films, such as "The Godfather" or "Apocalypse Now," discovering astonishing similarities to those visible in the trailer. Journalists noted that AI twisted the meanings of critics' statements. The chatbot generated negative quotes even if the critics liked the film and spoke positively in their reviews.

As Variety reports, the marketing campaign's goal was to show that Coppola's films had been misunderstood and "were work of art that would withstand the test of time" since the 1970s.

Egan, who has had a long career in the film industry, including 19 years spent at Universal, did not comment on the matter, nor did representatives of Lionsgate. As a result of the controversy, Lionsgate took full responsibility for the mistake and announced the premiere of "Megalopolis" in cinemas and IMAX, noting that Coppola is funding the marketing campaign, and his nephew Robert Schwartzman is set to provide alternative marketing services.