Murilo Benício, star of Globo’s hit telenovelas such as “The Clone”, “América” and “Brazil Avenue”, and Kevin Vechiatto who grew up in Brazil’s biggest children’s franchise “Turma da Mônica”, are expected to title “Nico,” an intelligent comedy from LB Entertainmentbehind “Netflix”, the world’s No. 1 non-English television series “Sintonia.”
“Nico” is produced by LB Entertainment and +Galeria and will be distributed in Brazil by +Galeria.
Many Brazilian comedies have enjoyed breakout success as raucous vehicles for a star TV comedian doing his thing. The comedy of “Nico,” on the other hand, is “a comedy with a story, which has a great emotional impact and is broad and accessible,” said LB Entertainment producer Felipe Braga. Variety.
Benício and Vechiatto play father Márcio and son Nico who have not spoken to each other for many years but are forced to embark on a hastily arranged 30-hour road trip, crammed together into a cramped car.
Nico is described as a “chronically online, friendless 17-year-old in the real world.” “Márcio” is an out-of-work comedian “and who, although he once made the whole country laugh, remains incapable of conquering the only spectator he has never made laugh: his son”.
“Together, it is through each other that they will learn to adapt. First to live together, then to interact with the world around them,” we can read in the synopsis.
Benício described Márcio as “a 50-year-old canceled father,” “a kind of midlife crisis,” Vechiatto added.
Nico, for Benício, who speaks in character, is a “nerd”. “The film 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 it all, or more than a little. He hardly ever leaves his room,” replied Vechiatto, also speaking in character.
“‘Nico’ is a comedy with a big heart,” Braga said. “The story follows two very funny characters on a journey – both emotional and geographical, as they cross roads en route to their final destination. On this journey, father and son must learn to let down their guard and see the world from each other’s point of view. »
“Even though the story is not afraid to be sensitive at times, it is nonetheless 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 is 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 Netflix Brazil’s pioneering half-hour comedy “Samantha!” and “Lov3” for Amazon Prime Video, which began to give him a reputation for developing cutting-edge narratives alongside young, emerging voices.
“We have worked with many very talented young writers on television on Amazon and Netflix shows. We decided to see if we had good screenwriters, capable of ensuring an ambitious narrative structure to the script, by writing a feature-length comedy film,” said Braga.
Embodying a “new culture of comedy,” Braga said, “Nico’s writer, Filipe Serra, was one of the main screenwriters of ‘Lov3,’ which won the Brazilian Writers’ Guild of the best comedy series.
“Being also avant-garde, the film is not afraid to make jokes about delicate and complicated subjects in a polarized society like ours,” added Braga.
“Nico” received a Gustavo de São Paulo grant, which created a substantial financial base for the film.
“We came up with a script that was both powerful and simple. And I realized that we could make not a small independent feature film, but turn this great text into a commercial film if we managed to bring together the right talents,” said producer Rita Moraes of LB Entertainment.
The casting of Benicio means that “we are working on a genre that Brazilian audiences love – comedy – but with a bold storyline. Having Murilo, a talent recognized and adopted by the public, is a major step in reaching an even wider audience.
Director Mariana Youssef directed three episodes of “Lov3,” served as executive director of “The Followers” for Paramount+ and helmed 2022’s “Teenage Kiss: The Future is Dead” for Max, which she co-created.
“Nico is a story about masculinity, about two men in a car, so we wanted a young and talented director, a very strong female voice like Mariana who really knows the craft of directing,” Moraes said.