[3][4] João do Santo Cristo (Fabrício Boliveira) was raised in the countryside of Bahia by his parents on a poor, small farm.

When João is older, his mother dies and he decides to leave home for Brasília, to meet a relative he discovered by looking at some old pictures.

Upon arriving in Brasília, he meets his cousin Pablo (César Troncoso) and start doing small illegal tasks for him, such as delivering drugs.

This upsets Jeremias (Felipe Abib), the local drug dealer, and he tries to have João killed with the help of his partner and corrupt police officer Marco Aurélio (Antônio Calloni).

He promises Maria he will stop committing crimes, but he and Pablo start a new drug empire in Brasília taking advantage of the better marijuana they can offer.

At the assigned place, Jeremias finds three final bags of his cocaine hanging from a football goal.

In a post-credits scene, an alternate, more song-loyal ending is presented, with João and Jeremias about to duel in front of a crowd, as originally described in the song.

In July 2005, O Globo informed that production on Faroeste Caboclo had started and was being led by director René Sampaio.

[5] According to him, he wanted to watch a movie based on the song, and found it funny that he was involved in the production of such film.

However, in early 2007, Editora Tapajós tried to legally stop the production of the film, stating that it has been holding the song's copyrights for more than 20 years, and saying that the family could not negotiate the movie without their permission.

[7][8] The final decision of the Superior Court of Justice came on January 1, 2007, declining Tapajós's request to make the film.

Fabrício Boliveira was chosen to play the main role, João de Santo Cristo; Ísis Valverde was confirmed as his love interest Maria Lúcia; and Felipe Adib will be the antagonist Jeremias.

[11][12][13] On April 15, 2011, Cinara Leal was chosen to play Teresa, since Fabiula Nascimento had to leave the film due to her busy schedule.