Lionsgate Marketing Consultant Built Movie Trailer Filled With AI Generated Fake Movie Reviews Of Old Films

I’ll admit, when I’ve been able to witness some of the fuckery around the use of artificial intelligence in stupid ways, some part of me has always gotten some amusement at those being fooled. I’ve gotten to witness most of this from afar, after all. It feels a bit different when you write about a situation where you were among those fooled by the bullshit.

At some point in the last week or so, I personally recall seeing the following trailer for Megalopolis, the forthcoming film from Francis Ford Coppola.

Now, the reason I recall seeing that trailer is due to those opening quotes from movie reviews of previous Coppola films. See, I’m a fan of many of his movies, as are millions of others. I recall laughing at those quotes, wondering just how in the hell reviewers could have gotten it so completely wrong when it comes to films like The Godfather and Apocolypse Now. I even thought briefly about googling those critics’ names and seeing if I could find the full reviews, just to laugh at how hilariously wrong they were.

Well, someone else did exactly that. And they found that those are AI-generated quotes from fake reviews that those reviewers never wrote.

Lionsgate has parted ways with Eddie Egan, the marketing consultant who came up with the “Megalopolis” trailer that included fake quotes from famous film critics. The studio pulled the trailer on Wednesday, after it was pointed out that the quotes trashing Francis Ford Coppola’s previous work did not actually appear in the critics’ reviews, and were in fact made up.

Sources tell Variety it was not Lionsgate or Egan’s intention to fabricate quotes, but was an error in properly vetting and fact-checking the phrases provided by the consultant. The intention of the trailer was to demonstrate that Coppola’s revered work, much like “Megalopolis,” has been met with criticism. It appears that AI was used to generate the false quotes from the critics.

That’s being far too kind. Some of these critics supposedly trashing Coppola’s work absolutely loved the films they were supposed to have denigrated. Variety was able to generate similar quotes with some trial and error prompting using ChatGPT, which is likely where this all came from. Misattributing the words and reviews of a film critic merely to drum up fake outrage as an interest multiplier for Coppola’s new film is both a complete violation of the actual work those critics did and an abdication of trust the public will have in the studio.

Now, to be fair, it appears Lionsgate had no idea that the quotes in the trailer were fakes, and worked fairly quickly to pull the trailer once it found out.

“Lionsgate is immediately recalling our trailer for ‘Megalopolis,’” the company said Wednesday. “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.”

Still, at a time when both the public and every SAG member out there is concerned about how AI is going to start filtering into creative work in negative ways, this is a fairly terrible look for the industry.

Or, if Lionsgate would like ChatGPT’s take on this:

Lionsgate’s use of fake quotes generated by AI for the trailer of “Megalopolis” was a significant misstep and attracted considerable criticism. Using AI-generated quotes can undermine the authenticity and credibility of marketing materials, especially when presented as genuine endorsements from critics.

For many, the inclusion of these artificial quotes not only misleads potential viewers but also raises ethical concerns about transparency and trust in advertising. When audiences or critics discover such manipulations, it can damage the studio’s reputation and affect the film’s reception.

In the case of “Megalopolis,” this controversy highlighted the broader issue of how AI can be misused in promotional contexts. It underscores the importance of maintaining integrity in marketing practices and being transparent about the sources and nature of endorsements.

And on that, you can quote me.