EXCLUSIVE: Cyrus Nowrasteh, the director of Jair Bolsonaro biopic Dark Horse, has described the film as a “tense political thriller about power, media, and faith under fire.”
With post-production nearing an end on the project, producers have released an official still from the movie, showing star Jim Caviezel as the controversial former Brazilian leader at the 2018 rally where he was stabbed while campaigning.
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Bolsonaro, who was Brazilian president between 2019 – 2023 and was sometimes termed “the Trump of the tropics,” is currently serving a 27 year prison sentence for leading a criminal conspiracy to stop his rival, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, from taking power. Bolsonaro’s allies have decried the allegations against him.
The filmmakers are on the hunt for a sales company and are readying screenings of the project for potential buyers. Contrary to some online speculation, the film doesn’t currently have a Brazilian release date.
Co-starring are Esai Morales, Lynn Collins, Camille Guaty, and Jeffrey Vincent Parise. Producers are Karina Ferreira and Michael Davis for Go Up Entertainment, and Ryan O’Quinn.
The script comes from Mark Nowrasteh and Cyrus Nowrasteh from a story by Bolsonaro’s former culture secretary Mario Frias, who is also an executive producer.
The project is expected to be a sympathetic portrait of its divisive subject, with the synopsis reading: “Inspired by true events, Dark Horse follows Jair Bolsonaro, a controversial outsider who rises from obscure army captain to populist presidential front-runner in a deeply polarized Brazil, only to face a deadly assassination plot that turns his fight against a corrupt establishment into a battle for survival, truth, and the soul of a nation.”
American filmmaker Nowrasteh, whose films also include The Day Reagan Was Shot, The Stoning Of Soraya M, and Caviezel starrer Infidel, said: “From its inception, when Mario came to me with the story for Dark Horse, it was conceived not just as a biographical portrait, but as a tense political thriller about power, media, and faith under fire, with cultural significance not just in Brazil but in all countries.”
The director added: “The story of Jair Bolsonaro’s improbable rise and the attempt on his life in 2018 offered a framework for exploring how far entrenched systems will go to preserve themselves — and how one politician can become a vessel for a nation’s hopes and fears. Dark Horse invites audiences into that tension rather than resolving it for them.”
Bolsonaro is Catholic but was re-baptized by an Evangelical pastor in Israel in 2016 and the leader’s rise to power was aided by his appeal to the Christian right in Brazil. The Passion Of The Christ and Sound Of Freedom star Caviezel has openly discussed being a devout Catholic and is also known for his conservative activism and support for President Trump.
The filmmakers behind Dark Horse are now hoping they can tap into some of the support shown for Caviezel’s 2023 box office sensation Sound Of Freedom, the faith-adjacent child trafficking thriller that became part of the culture wars. That film took $184M in the U.S. but also scored very well overseas. Brazil was one of its biggest international markets with box office estimated at $10M.
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