Murilo Benício, star of smash-hit Globo telenovelas such as “The Clone,” “América” and “Brazil Avenue,” and Kevin Vechiatto who grew up in Brazil’s biggest kids franchise “Turma da Mônica,” are set to headline “Nico,” a smart comedy from LB Entertainment, behind “Netflix” global No. 1 Non-English TV series “Sintonia.”
“Nico” is produced by LB Entertainment and +Galeria and will be distributed in Brazil by +Galeria.
Many Brazilian comedies have hit gold dust as raucous vehicles for a star TV comedian, who does his shtick. “Nico’s” comedy, in contrast, is “a comedy with a story, which packs a large emotional impact and is broad and accessible,” LB Entertainment producer Felipe Braga told Variety.
Benício and Vechiatto play father Márcio and son Nico who haven’t spoken for many years but are forced to embark on a hastily organized 30-hour road trip packed together in a cramped car.
Popular on Variety
Nico is described as a “chronically-online 17-year-old with no friends in the real world.” “Márcio” is a comedian with no job “and who, despite having made the whole country laugh once upon a time, remains incapable of winning over the one spectator he’s never made laugh: His son.”
“Together, it is through each other that they will learn to adapt. First in order to live together, and then in order to interact with the world around them,” the synopsis runs.
Benício has described Márcio as “a 50-year-old cancelled father,” “a kind of has been and in mid-life crisis, added Vechiatto.
Nico, for Benício, talking in character, is a “nerd.” “The movie is about a sensitive 17-year-old boy who understands how complex the world is and it’s true, sometimes he gets a little scared with all that, or even more than just a little. He basically never leaves his room,” Vechiatto countered, also talking in character.
“‘Nico’ is a comedy with a big heart,” said Braga. “The story follows two very funny characters on a journey – both emotional and geographical, as they traverse roads on their way to their final destination. On this trip, father and son need to learn to let their guards down and see the world from each other’s perspective.”
“Although the story is not afraid to be sensitive at times, it is still the journey of a comedian and his sarcastic son, and most of the humor comes from the dialogue between them,” he added.
LB Entertainment’s hallmark has been its work with a young generation of new creators and screenwriters, led by internet phenomenon Kondzilla, who co-created and co-directed “Sintonia.” LB’s credits include pioneering Netflix Brazil half-hour comedy “Samantha!” and “Lov3” for Amazon Prime Video, which began to win it a reputation for developing cutting-edge narratives alongside young emerging voices.
“We’ve been working with so many highly talented young writers on television on the Amazon shows and Netflix shows. We decided to see what if we had actually good writers, capable of ensuring an ambitious narrative structure for the script, writing a comedy feature film,” said Braga.
Embodying a “new culture of comedy,” said Braga, “Nico’ writer Filipe Serra was a main scribe on “Lov3” which won the Brazilian Writer’s Guild Award for Best Comedy Series.
“Being cutting edge as well, the film is not afraid of making jokes about tricky complicated subjects in a polarized society such as ours,” Braga added.
“Nico” was the recipient of a São Paulo Paulo Gustavo grant which created a substantial financial base for the film.
“We reached a script that is both powerful and simple. And I understood we could make not a small independent feature, but turn this great text into a comercial film if we were able to attach the right talent,” said producer Rita Moraes at LB Entertainment.
Benicio’s casting means that “we are working on a genre that Brazilian audiences love – comedy – but with a script that is edgy. Having Murilo, a talent the public recognize and embrace, is a major step to reach an even broader audience.”
Director Mariana Youssef helmed three episodes of “Lov3,” was general director of “The Followers” for Paramount+ and in 2022 directed “Teenage Kiss: The Future is Dead” for Max, which she co-created.
“Nico is a story on masculinity, about two men in a car, so we wanted a young and talented female director, a really strong female voice such as Mariana who really knows the craft of direction,” said Moraes.