Carmen Miranda, the Brazilian singer and actress who became the highest-paid woman in Hollywood in the 1940s, is to become the subject of a Portuguese- and English-language biopic.
The story, which carries a huge $12.1m (BRL 61m) budget by Brazilian standards, will span 1940 to 1955 and explore the ups and downs of the star who introduced Brazilian samba and Latin culture to global audiences and paved the way for future Latina actresses. At the same time she faced a backlash back home where she was accused of touting a tacky and Americanised image of Brazil and South America.
Giovanna Lancellotti, whose roles include Brazilian telenovelas like Gabriela and Dona De Mim and Netflix’s Rich In Love, will play the trailblazing actress, singer and dancer who was recognisable for her highly-stylised look of colourful clothes, oversized jewellery, and turbans adorned with tropical fruits.
“Behind the traditional Bahian attire, the trinkets, and the vibrant colours lay a fragile woman living with many contradictions,” Lancellotti said. “She was at the absolute centre of intense media coverage, in a way that no other Brazilian had ever experienced before.”
Esmir Filho will direct and filming on the bilingual project is scheduled for the second half of 2027 in Brazil and the US. “If Brazilians are known today for their joy, for being a people who love to celebrate, that has something to do with Carmen Miranda’s image,’’ Filho said.
The project was announced on Wednesday (October 7) at RioMarket, the business arm of Festival do Rio. Ananã Produções, Producing Partners (operating in Brazil and the US), Lancellotti’s GL Filmes, and H2O Produções are producing. “There have been many projects about Carmen Miranda over the decades, but none have worked out,” Tatiana Issa of Producers Partners said. “And that is for the best. A while ago, she could have been a victim for not getting married or starting a family.”
Filho is best known for directing his debut feature and 2009 Festival do Rio winner The Famous And The Dead, about a rural teen obsessed with the virtual world. His 2025 biopic Latin Blood: The Ballad Of Ney Matogrosso about the Brazilian singer drew more than 700,000 admissions and grossed $2.5m (BRL 13m) at the local box office.
“Carmen Miranda was a forerunner of pop, even though the concept of pop only emerged later,” Filho said. “I even make a connection with Ney Matogrosso [a symbol of rebellion during the military dictatorship in Brazil in the 1970s] who came before today’s affirmative action policies,” the director added.
“Today, Miranda can be seen as the great woman she was,” Issa of Producers Partners added, recalling that the actress negotiated her own salary. “But like all geniuses, she ended up trapped in stereotypes. She became a hostage of the character she herself created.”
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