A timeline of the controversy surrounding Francis Ford Coppola's $120 million-movie 'Megalopolis'

In a lengthy feature published in May, The Guardian explained how difficult it was for Coppola to get "Megalopolis" made, and also reported that he was unprofessional and unorganized when filming started in November 2022.

An anonymous crewmember told the outlet: "He would often show up in the mornings before these big sequences and because no plan had been put in place, and because he wouldn't allow his collaborators to put a plan in place, he would often just sit in his trailer for hours on end, wouldn't talk to anybody, was often smoking marijuana … And hours and hours would go by without anything being filmed."

Anonymous crewmembers also alleged Coppola was unprofessional toward women, with the Guardian writing that he "tried to kiss some of the topless and scantily clad female extras." He claimed it was an attempt to "get them in the mood" for a debauched nightclub scene, the outlet reported.

Variety published exclusive videos from the "Megalopolis" set in July, which appeared to show Coppola kissing an extra in the nightclub scene.

A crew member told Variety that Coppola told the set: "Sorry, if I come up to you and kiss you. Just know it's solely for my pleasure."

Executive producer Darren Demetre said in a statement to Variety via Coppola's team: "There were two days when we shot a celebratory Studio 54-esque club scene where Francis walked around the set to establish the spirit of the scene by giving kind hugs and kisses on the cheek to the cast and background players.

"It was his way to help inspire and establish the club atmosphere, which was so important to the film. I was never aware of any complaints of harassment or ill behavior during the course of the project."

On August 21, Lionsgate released a new "Megalopolis" trailer.

It started with quotes from bad reviews of Coppola's previous movies including "The Godfather," in an apparent attempt to show how critics were wrong about his iconic films, and would eat their words with "Megalopolis," too.

However, Vulture quickly discovered that some of these quotes were faked, and The Independent reported that one was taken from Roger Egbert's review of 1989's "Batman," not of "Bram Stoker's Dracula," which Coppola directed in 1992.

Lionsgate pulled the trailer (although it can be still seen on YouTube).

In a statement to Business Insider, a Lionsgate spokesperson said: "Lionsgate is immediately recalling our trailer for 'Megalopolis.' 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."

Coppola's representatives didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

Speaking to Rolling Stone in August, Coppola responded to The Guardian article about the "Megalopolis" production, and claims that he sexually harassed extras during the nightclub scene.

The director called the article "totally untrue," before saying that he knew the women who he kissed.

"The young women I kissed on the cheek, in regards to the New Year's scene, they were young women I knew," he said.

"It's all so ridiculous. Look at the timing of that article. It's right before we're about to premiere the film at Cannes. They're just trying to damage the picture."

A Guardian spokesperson told BI that Coppola's team were contacted for comment at the time.

Rolling Stone also asked Coppola about casting Jon Voight as Hamilton Crassus III in the film. The actor has been outspoken about his support for Donald Trump.

When discussing Voight and his political views, Coppola said that he intentionally cast people who had been "canceled."

"What I didn't want to happen is that we're deemed some woke Hollywood production that's simply lecturing viewers. The cast features people who were canceled at one point or another," he said.

He added: "There were people who are archconservatives and others who are extremely politically progressive. But we were all working on one film together. That was interesting, I thought."

Lionsgate fired marketing consultant Eddie Egan in September for the controversy surrounding the fake quotes in the "Megalopolis" trailer.

The Hollywood Reporter broke the news on September 4, citing an anonymous executive who previously worked with Egan.

"They threw Eddie under the bus. Egan has the most amount of integrity, a low-key guy who never liked the spotlight. His entire life's work will now be defined on Google as the person who tried to game the system by creating misinformation," the source said.

THR noted that an AI engine was used to find negative reviews about Coppola's work, but it invented its own using information it pulled from the internet.

The outlet also noted that other studio bosses and the rest of the marketing team had to approve the trailer before it went live, and they kept their jobs.

Lionsgate didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.