“Circo de Feras”: series inspired by songs by Xutos & Pontapés scheduled to be filmed in 2025
Portuguese producer Sky Dreams is preparing a fiction series, entitled “Circo de Feras”, inspired by songs by the rock group Xutos & Pontapés, producer Pedro Duarte revealed to the Lusa agency.
“It doesn’t have anything directly to do with Xutos, but their songs inspire certain characters, such as ‘homeman do leme’ or Maria [‘Para ti Maria’]. These are the songs that have some direct or indirect identification with the characters’ lives”, explained the producer.
“Circo de Feras” is written by Patrícia Muller and directed by João Maia and filming should only take place in 2025, with the producer still “in final negotiations” regarding the cast.
Regarding the use of the songs that serve as the basis for this series, Pedro Duarte said that “everything is agreed with Xutos & Pontapés” and that themes were chosen from several of the band’s albums.
Xutos & Pontapés are one of the most enduring Portuguese rock bands, having emerged 45 years ago, starting on January 13, 1979, the day they performed their first concert at the Apolo Students ballroom, in Lisbon.
At the time, the group, which came to be called Delirium Tremens and later Beijinhos e Parabéns, included the young Zé Pedro, Kalú, Tim and Zé Leonel, influenced by the punk rock that was entering the foreign music scene with force.
Forty-five years after their first show, the group persists in Portuguese music with more than a dozen albums and many songs that serve as an anchor for a rock clan with thousands of fans from various generations.
Even after the death of guitarist Zé Pedro, in 2017, the band remained active, on stage and in the studio, with Tim (vocalist and bassist), João Cabeleira (guitarist), Gui (saxophonist) and Kalú (drummer).
“Circo de Feras”, a title that adopts the name of a 1987 album and one of Xutos & Pontapés’ best-known songs, is produced by Sky Dreams for RTP.
Sky Dreams is currently finishing filming the series “The Architect”, also by Patrícia Muller and João Maia, about a sex scandal involving the architect Tomás Taveira in the late 1980s.
The series, produced for the television channel TVI and the streaming platform Prime Video, stars actor Rui Melo.
