A film by Kleber Mendonça Filho starring Wagner Moura has already drawn nearly 3 million people to theaters and has been recognized at renowned awards such as the Cannes Film Festival and the Golden Globe.
Celebrated by both audiences and critics, The Secret Agent arrived at the Oscars, held this Sunday (15), with little chance of winning any of the four categories in which it was nominated, according to predictions from specialized websites. This expectation was indeed confirmed, and the Brazilian drama left the world’s biggest film event without any statuette.
This, however, is far from being considered a defeat, as the film directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho and starring Wagner Moura built a solid trajectory over the past few months, filled with achievements at major festivals such as Cannes, the Golden Globe, and the Critics Choice Awards. In total, it has accumulated 76 wins worldwide across a wide range of categories.
But that’s not all. After Sunday’s loss, both the film and actor Wagner Moura continued to enjoy strong credibility in the specialized press. For U.S. outlets such as Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, for example, the Bahian actor should have won the Best Actor category, which went to Michael B. Jordan for his performance in Sinners, alongside the twin characters Smoke and Ash.
In any case, Moura made history: he became the first Brazilian to appear in the category in the 98-year history of the Oscars.
Another figure who did not win but still has much to celebrate is São Paulo native Adolpho Veloso, who became the first Brazilian nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, competing in the 2026 edition for the film Train Dreams. At 36, Veloso stood out in Hollywood with a poetic body of work, consolidating his international career after awards at the Critics Choice Awards and the Independent Spirit Awards.
Brazilian cinema on the rise
Even while competing with Hollywood’s multimillion-dollar budgets, The Secret Agent established itself as the most-watched film in Brazil among all ten nominees for Best Picture at the Oscars.
The film has already sold 2,464,071 tickets, easily surpassing titles such as F1 and Sinners, and grossing over R$50 million. Among the nominees for the Academy’s top prize, Kleber Mendonça Filho’s film has the smallest budget on the list.
The success of The Secret Agent follows in the wake of another major national box office phenomenon—and the first Brazilian film to win the award: I’m Still Here, by Walter Salles, winner of the 2025 Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.
I’m Still Here established itself as a historic milestone in Brazilian cinema, surpassing R$100 million in domestic box office revenue, with more than 5 million viewers, becoming one of the biggest national box office hits in the post-pandemic era. Worldwide, Walter Salles’ film exceeded R$200 million (US$35 million) in March 2025, boosted by screenings in more than 14 countries and its success at the Oscars.
