The previous record on a Sundance film was on Hulu’s Palm Spring, which sold for $22.5 million.
Apple is building up their library for Apple TV +. Their mission of making their streaming service a success now includes a $25 million film from Sundance.
Variety and Deadline are reporting that Apple has purchased Sian Heder’s film, CODA (“Children of Deaf Adults”) at Sundance. Apple has now set the record for most expensive film, beating Hulu’s 2020 record of $22.5 million.
According to Yahoo, the purchase of the film concluded a bidding war between Apple and Amazon. Amazon eagerly wanted CODA for their service. Apple reportedly plans to release the film in 2021 where Amazon did not have release plans during the bidding war.
With CODA now slated at Apple TV+, Apple sets their eyes on a potential Golden Globes award.
Yahoo describes the movie as a film that “centers on a high school senior (Locke and Key’s Emilia Jones) who’s the only hearing person in her fishing-centric family. She has to choose between supporting her deaf family (played by deaf actors) and its traditions or chasing her dreams of a career in music.”