Megalopolis’ Marketing Consultant Dropped Over AI Quotes in Trailer

Lionsgate has announced it is parting ways with marketing consultant Eddie Egan, who created the trailer for “Megalopolis” that included fake quotes from well-known film critics.

The studio pulled the film’s trailer on Wednesday, after pointing out that quotes criticizing Francis Ford Coppola’s previous works did not actually appear in critics’ reviews, and were in fact made up.

Sources say diverse It was not Lionsgate or Egan’s intent to fabricate the quotes, but rather an error in fact-checking the statements provided by the consultant. The trailer was intended to show that Coppola’s venerable work, such as “Megalopolis,” was met with criticism. It appears that artificial intelligence was used to generate the fake quotes from critics.

For example, the trailer claimed that Pauline Kael wrote in The New Yorker that The Godfather was “diminished by its artistry.” In fact, Kael loved the film.

when diverse This prompted the AI ​​service ChatGPT to provide negative critiques of Coppola’s work from well-known reviewers, and the responses provided were strikingly similar to the quotes included in the trailer.

Egan has worked closely with Adam Fogelson, president of Lionsgate Film Group, for more than 20 years. The two worked together at Universal and later at STX. Fogelson was president of Universal Pictures until 2013 and then president of STX Film Group. Fogelson was named vice president of Lionsgate Film Group two years ago and was named president in January.

Egan has been an independent consultant since leaving STX in 2019.

Lions Gate announced Wednesday that it was immediately pulling its trailer for “Megalopolis.” “We sincerely apologize to the critics involved, director Francis Ford Coppola, and Zoetrope America for this inexcusable error in our review process,” the company said. “We made a mistake. We’re sorry.”

A Lionsgate spokesperson declined to comment on this report, and Egan did not respond to multiple requests for comment.