RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – “Carmen,” the Portuguese and English-language biopic of Carmen Miranda, the iconic Golden Age of Hollywood Brazilian star, will shoot in Brazil and the United States in the second half of 2027
Esmir Filho will direct the film, which is a major production by local standards with a budget of 61 million reais ($20 million), one of the largest budgets in Brazilian cinema ever. Producer Tatiana Issa said producers raised 80% of the budget through Brazilian incentives Diversity.
H2O Films plans to release “Carmen” in Brazilian theaters in the second half of 2028. Giovanna Lancellotti will play the lead role of Carmen Miranda and will also serve as one of the film’s producers.
“Carmen,” which will debut Oct. 7 at RioMarket, the business section of the Rio Film Festival, is based on a screenplay by Mariana Bardan and Eduardo Melo and is produced by Julio Uchôa’s Ananão Produções, New York City-based Producing Partners (led by Issa and Guto Barra), Lancellotti’s GL Filmes and H2O.
Issa said that the producers aim to release the biopic in theaters in Brazil, as well as in the United States, Europe and Asia, where Miranda remains an icon.
Miranda emerged as one of Brazil’s biggest radio, recording and film stars in the 1930s. His career in the United States began in 1940, appearing in musicals on Broadway. Her distinctive costumes, hijabs, platform shoes and fast-paced singing style became instantly recognizable trademarks and opened the doors to Hollywood. He appeared in 14 feature films until his death from a heart attack in 1955.
“Carmen became the highest-paid actress in the United States. She would go to the office of Twentieth Century-Fox’s powerful head of production, Darryl F. Zanuck, and personally negotiate her contracts,” Issa said.
“She brought samba to the United States and turned it into a popular thing. Carmen was responsible for creating Brazil’s soft power at a time when the term didn’t even exist. Before Pelé and Brazil won football World Cups, it was she who helped shape the international image of Brazilians as cheerful and colorful people,” he added.
Issa highlighted Filho’s competence in directing “Carmen” after helming “Homem com H,” the 2025 biopic of Brazilian singer Ney Matogrosso that was critically acclaimed and had a solid box office performance.
Lancellotti, who has appeared in local TV series and movies, spent the past years preparing herself for the role of Miranda. She took singing lessons from musical performance director and vocal coach Felipe Habib, and body preparation and choreography lessons from Márcia Rubin and Vanessa Garcia.
“Starting in 2021, I immersed myself in the story of Carmen Miranda. I memorized the songs and started humming them every day,” he said. Diversity. “Carmen created an identity that still exists in music, art and fashion, 70 years after her death.”
In addition to Brazilian actors, the film’s cast will also include English-speaking actors who will play the roles of Zanuck, Broadway producer Lee Shubert, and Miranda’s only husband David Sebastian.
The film will be shot in New York City (for scenes depicting his ship arrival and Broadway musicals), Maricá, Brazil (instead of Los Angeles), and Rio. The oil-rich municipality of Maricá, about 35 miles from Rio, is one of the production’s investors. According to Issa, the Los Angeles home scenario will eventually become home to the Carmen Miranda museum in Maricá.
Carmen Miranda in “Weekend in Havana”