The budget spreadsheet for the film Dark Horse, presented by Senator Flávio Bolsonaro of Rio de Janeiro, the PL presidential candidate, to banker Daniel Vorcaro, allotted US$ 4 million (about 20.5 million reais at current rates) to its lead actor, the American Jim Caviezel, who plays former president Jair Bolsonaro. The figures appear in a Federal Police inquiry into suspected irregularities in the film's financing, made public late on Friday (September 11) by a decision of Supreme Court Justice André Mendonça. Documents from Coaf, Brazil's financial intelligence council, cited in the report indicate that at least US$ 12.3 million (63 million reais) of the US$ 24 million (123 million reais) the senator requested from Vorcaro were actually paid.
Caviezel is not named explicitly in the document. The first two installments the banker was to pay, US$ 2 million each, are listed as "main talent part 1" and "main talent part 2", the term the movie industry uses for performers. Because the spreadsheet records only the planned budget, there is no way to know whether the payments were made or what the final cost of the production was, reports BBC News Brasil, which had access to the inquiry.
In its report, the Federal Police points to a mismatch between the values of Dark Horse and those seen in the Brazilian audiovisual market, while cautioning that the gap by itself does not amount to a crime.
"Although it does not in itself constitute any criminal offense, it reinforces the need to deepen the investigation into the actual destination of the funds and the economic compatibility of the financial operation identified," the document says.
Hollywood comparisons
Industry professionals interviewed by the BBC on condition of anonymity called the US$ 4 million figure inflated. For context from the American market itself, Robert Downey Jr. earned the same amount for Oppenheimer, even though in a major supporting role, while the film's star, Cillian Murphy, reportedly received US$ 10 million. Joaquin Phoenix was paid US$ 4.5 million to play the Joker in the first film of that franchise and only reached about US$ 20 million for the sequel after the original passed US$ 1 billion at the box office. The producers of Dark Horse project a best-case gross of US$ 100 million, the same total earned by Challengers (released in Brazil as Rivais), a recent film starring Zendaya.
Timeline of the case
The inquiry is part of the investigations surrounding Banco Master, the institution Vorcaro controlled before the scandal broke. The Federal Police lists a series of meetings, calls and messages between Flávio and Vorcaro beginning on August 20, 2025. On September 8 of that year, the senator sent an audio message demanding overdue payments and voiced fear of defaulting on prominent figures in American cinema, naming Caviezel and director Cyrus Nowrasteh. A call logged on September 16 coincides with the last transfer of US$ 1.66 million sent by Entre Investimentos to the Havengate Development Fund in the United States, according to Coaf. Vorcaro was arrested on November 17, 2025, as he tried to board a private jet bound abroad, on the eve of the first phase of Operation Compliance Zero.
Flávio Bolsonaro first denied having asked Vorcaro for money and later confirmed the request. He says the contacts were part of a private sponsorship arrangement and denies having received any funds directly or committing any irregularity. His press office referred questions about Dark Horse to the producer, Go Up Entertainment, which did not reply to the BBC before publication. Nowrasteh defended the film's costs on X: "The cost comparison that the Brazilian press is making is flawed," he wrote, arguing that budgets in the United States are disclosed without marketing costs. The BBC notes that the spreadsheet given to Vorcaro contains no distribution expenses, the category that includes marketing, and that this stage typically accounts for at least 30% of a film's remaining costs.
The Federal Police states that Flávio acted as Vorcaro's direct interlocutor in securing the funding and recommends probing the origin of the money, the role of intermediary companies, the function of the Havengate fund registered in Texas and the final beneficiaries of the payments. The documents were released after Supreme Court President Edson Fachin granted a request by the Prosecutor General's office (PGR). No date has been set for the next decisive step in the inquiry, which remains under investigation.