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Building on a legacy that profoundly shaped national culture, ‘City of God: The Fight Rages On’ had a significant challenge to face: not only honoring the original film’s narrative but also updating the story to reflect more contemporary issues. City of God ‘City of God’ (2002) is a critically acclaimed Brazilian crime drama set in the favelas (slums) of Rio de Janeiro directed by Fernando Meirelles and co-directed by Kátia Lund. The film is based on the 1997 novel of the same name by Paulo Lins, which was inspired by real events of the rise of organized crime in the neighborhood called “Cidade de Deus” (City of God). Based on the work of the original novel’s writer Paulo Lins, the spin-off takes place twenty years after the events of the feature film, in the early 2000s. Based on the memories of Buscapé “Rocket” (Alexandre Rodrigues), the production portrays the impact of conflicts between rival gangs,...

Peacock Announces “Based on a True Story” Season 2 Premiere, Releases First Look

The Bartletts are back on the case. Peacock has announced the Season 2 premiere date for its hit comedy-thriller series “Based on a True Story,” starring Kaley Cuoco and Chris Messina. The series follows Ava (Cuoco) and Nathan (Messina), a married couple feeling the weight of life and work amidst endless bills, marriage squabbles, mounting work pressures, and a baby on the way. But their lives get a shake-up when, spurred by Ava’s passion for true crime, she realizes that plumber-turned-family friend Matt (Tom Bateman) is the serial killer behind a string of unsolved murders in L.A. and the pair blackmail him into co-creating a podcast about his “work.”

Watch the “Based on a True Story” Season 2 date announcement teaser below:

In Season 2, Ava and Nathan are three months into parenthood, and Ava is determined to resist her true-crime obsession,...

The HBO Original series City of God: The Fight Rages On has been renewed for a second season. The series is a sequel to the award-winning 2002 film.

City of God: The Fight Rages On had its global debut on HBO and Max on Sunday, August 25. Details of the second season will be announced at a later date.

The series’ plot follows the characters 20 years after the events of the renowned film, through the lens of Wilson (Rocket), who returns to the community when a young drug dealer’s release from prison puts City of God in dispute once again.

The residents end up trapped between drug dealers, militias, and government authorities. However, their desire to break this cycle drives the community to unite and confront their oppressors.

The cast includes Alexandre Rodrigues, Roberta Rodrigues, Thiago Martins, Sabrina Rosa, Kiko Marques, Edson Oliveira, Andréia Horta, Marcos Palmeira, Eli Ferreira, Luellem de Castro,...

“City of God: The Fight Rages On” has been renewed for Season 2.

The news comes just days after the series debuted on HBO Latino and Max on Aug. 25. The six episode first season will continue to drop new episodes weekly on Sundays at 8 p.m. Et/Pt. The second episode will air on Sept. 1.

Per the official description, the series “follows the characters 20 years after the events of the renowned film, through the lens of Wilson (Rocket), who returns to the community when a young drug dealer’s release from prison puts City of God in dispute once again. The residents end up trapped between drug dealers, militias and government authorities. However, their desire to break this cycle drives the community to unite and confront their oppressors.”

Alexandre Rodrigues reprised his role as Wilson from the original “City of God” film, which was itself based on the novel of the same name by Paulo Lins.

City of God: The Fight Rages On is premiering tonight on HBO!

The six-episode original series is set two decades after the events of the 2002 international award-winning film, and premieres at 8:00 p.m. Et on HBO Latino in the U.S. and will be available to stream globally on Max where the platform is available. New episodes will debut Sundays at the same time.

The series includes the return of memorable characters such as Rocket (Wilson), Berenice, Bradock, Cinthia, Barbantinho and Melonhead, as well as new faces, including Jerusa, Lígia and Genivaldo Curió.

Keep reading to find out more…

Stars include Alexandre Rodrigues, Roberta Rodrigues, Thiago Martins, Sabrina Rosa, Kiko Marques, Edson Oliveira, Andréia Horta, Marcos Palmeira, Eli Ferreira, Luellem de Castro, Jefferson Brasil, Otávio Linhares, Rafael Lozano, Leandro Daniel, Luiz Bertazzo and debuting talents from communities in Rio de Janeiro such as Cidade de Deus, Vidigal and Mangueira.

When Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund’s City of God came out in 2002, it was generally acclaimed — countless Top 10 lists, four Oscar nominations, etc. But it did not go without criticism. There were some who found the violent coming-of-age drama to be exploitative, fetishizing poverty and crime in the Brazilian favelas without digging deeper than misery.

In very meta terms, it’s a duality that haunts the lead of HBO Latino and Max’s new spinoff series, City of God: The Fight Rages On. Wilson (Alexandre Rodrigues) grew up in the sprawling lower-income suburbs of Rio de Janeiro and, after watching many of his friends and rivals die in the film’s escalating violence, found his escape through his camera. Though he’s become one of the country’s most famous photojournalists, even he’s exhausted by how much of his success has come from capturing images of death.

Wilson...

Matching the high-paced style of City of God in a TV series will be challenging without the original creative team. City of God: The Fight Rages On faces the difficulty of expanding storylines and maintaining the impactful visuals of the film. Legacy sequel TV series have struggled in the past, such as The Full Monty and Willow series, showing the uphill battle for City of God: The Fight Rages On.

In an age dominated by legacy sequels, it is becoming increasingly rare for successful one-off films to remain that way. The next film to be revisited is 2002s City of God, an epic crime film directed by Fernando Meirelles and Ktia Lund. The film, written by Brulo Mantovani, is based on the 1997 novel of the same name by Paulo Lins. City of God follows several interconnected stories across the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, with a specific focus on the story of Busca-p,...

Beat the summer heat with the latest additions at Max! This August, truth is stranger than fiction, and HBO will premiere multiple documentary series and films, including the four-part Original “Chimp Crazy,” a new installment of the Emmy-winning “Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Chicago Bears,” and the streaming premiere of the recent Cannes and Tribeca entrant “Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes.”

The rest of the month at Max includes the Season 3 premiere of the HBO/BBC One finance industry drama “Industry,” returning after a two-year hiatus, and the surprise “City of God” follow-up series “City of God: The Fight Rages On.” All of the new titles, from new series premieres to classic films joining the library, as well as any new games and matches available this month on Bleacher Report, will be available on either an ad-supported Max plan beginning at $9.99 per month or an ad-free plan beginning at $16.99 per month.

City Of God: The Fight Rages On is a television sequel to the acclaimed 2002 film, City Of God. Here’s the trailer.

City Of God is a modern classic, insofar as 2002 can be considered modern. Written by Bráulio Mantovani and directed by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, the film received praise for its stark depiction of the lives of its characters and for filming in real favelas in Rio de Janeiro. It went on to be nominated for four Oscars and is often cited as one of the best films of the 21st century.

A spin-off television drama, City Of Men, ran for four series in 2002 to 2005, which was adapted into a film in 2007.

Back in the present, City Of God: The Fight Rages On is described as a direct sequel to the film, with Alexandre Rodrigues – who played budding photographer Rocket in the original 2002 film – reprising his role.

The...

“City of God: The Fight Rages On” is a 6-episode sequel to a 2002 ‘crime drama’ series, directed by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, starring Alexandre Rodrigues, Roberta Rodrigues, Thiago Martins, Sabrina Rosa, Kiko Marques, Edson Oliveira, Andréia Horta, Marcos Palmeira, Eli Ferreira, Luellem de Castro, Jefferson Brasil, Otávio Linhares, Rafael Lozano, Leandro Daniel, and Luiz Bertazzo, streaming August 25, 2024 on Max:

“…two decades have passed as a photojournalist finds himself dropped into an ongoing drug war. The battle for control over the ‘City of God’ rages on, as ‘Rocket’ finds himself caught up in a daily fight that only seems to escalate.

“Then a young drug dealer from prison puts ‘Cidade de Deus’ right back into conflict. As residents become ensnared between drug traffickers, militias and public authorities, the need to escape this cycle makes the community unite to face the oppression…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

"Someone needs to tell this story." HBO has revealed the first official trailer for a streaming series called City of God: The Fight Rages On, a long-awaited legacy sequel to the iconic masterpiece Brazilian film City of God (from 2002). There was already a sort-of-sequel made in 2007 called City of Men, but it had mixed reviews and didn't make much of an impact. This new series follows the very same kid, Rocket (aka Buscapé), and stars Alexandre Rodrigues bringing him back 22 years after starring in the original. The series will follow in the footsteps of the film by Fernando Meirelles and will also be based on Paulo Lins’ book "City of God”. It's set two decades after that of the original, following the current lives of the characters seen in the 2002 film – showing what happened to them. With excerpts used in flashbacks to reconstruct memories and affective recollections. The cast includes: Roberta Rodrigues,...

Max has just announced that the HBO Original series City of God: The Fight Rages On will premiere on Sunday, August 25, on HBO Latino in the U.S. and will be available to stream globally on Max, where the platform is available.

Produced by O2 Filmes, the series takes place two decades after the events of the internationally award-winning film. The six episodes will be released weekly every Sunday until September 29th.

City of God: The Fight Rages On

City of God: The Fight Rages On is an adapted continuation of Paulo Lins’s literary work and tells the story of its characters, taking the work of the photographer Buscapé as a starting point. The plot unfolds in the early 2000s when the release of a young drug dealer from prison puts Cidade de Deus back into dispute.

Residents find themselves trapped between drug traffickers, militias, and public authorities, but...

"City of God" is so much more than just Brazil's answer to "GoodFellas,". One of the most acclaimed Brazilian films of all time, Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund's 2001 masterpiece is a portrait of Rio de Janeiro and its reality, the ugly and the beautiful sides of it. Set in the favelas of Rio in the '70s, the film centers on two men, each following a different path they say is forced on them by their Dickensian circumstances. One becomes a photographer documenting the drug-related violence that is rapidly increasing in the neighborhood, while the other becomes an ambitious drug dealer climbing the ladder.

In addition to gathering universal acclaim for its acting, cinematography, writing and portrayal of the favelas, "City of God" also got four nominations at the Academy Awards, including Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director. Now, over 20 years after the release of the original, Max has announced a sequel series.

Exclusive: Nanda Costa, Roberta Rodrigues star in Rio Carnival rom-com.

Rio-based Total Entertainment is in post-production on Rio Carnival romantic comedy Apaixonados, produced with local Disney label Miravista.

Budgeted at $1.5m (R$6m), Apaixonados was partially shot during the last Carnival, in February, capturing images of the parade of Grande Rio, one of the top samba schools in the Brazlian city.

Directed by Paulo Fontenelle, known for comedies Diva a Dois (2015) and Se Puder… Dirija (2013), the film portrays three love stories born during Carnival in Rio.

The cast includes City of God actress Roberta Rodrigues and Nanda Costa (Rat Fever).

Costa portrays a samba school flag bearer who is torn between her responsibility to parade during Carnival and concern for her ailing father (Roberto Bomfim), whom she takes to hospital only to fall in love with a doctor (Raphael Vianna).

Rodrigues plays a hairdresser from the favelas who meets a rich man (John Baldesserini) during a Carnival...