Apple has acquired the rights for the upcoming film “CODA”, an American drama film written and directed by Sian Heder. The company has paid over $25 million for the film, making the acquisition the largest ever at Sundance Film Festival. It stars the actress Emilia Jones in the lead role.
The plot of CODA revolves around the life of a teenage girl whose parents are deaf. The name of the film is actually an acronym for ‘child of deaf adults’ (CODA). The girl’s brother is also deaf in the film. The role of the parents is played by Marlee Matlin and Troy Katsur as the mother and the father respectively.
Tough competition from Amazon
To acquire the rights of the film CODA, Apple reportedly had to fight a tough battle with Amazon, reported Deadline. Apple plans to release the film on its streaming service Apple TV+. If Amazon had won the battle, the movie would have streamed on Amazon Prime Video. A lot more people are on Prime Video compared to Apple TV+ at the moment.
The deal worth $25 million set a new record as the most expensive acquisition till date. The second largest deal now happens to be the acquisition of “Palm Springs” by Hulu/Neon. Before the Apple deal, the Hulu deal was the largest deal ever to take place at Sundance Film Festival.
This year, the Sundance Film Festival was held as a virtual event due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The festival is held in Utah every year and it is attended by a record number of people. In 2012, Robert Redford announced Sundance London for the first time as a spin-off to Sundance Film Festival.
Apple continues to push its streaming service by offering the service at a discounted price. Also, new purchases of iPhone, iPad, and Mac continue to receive Apple TV+ for free for one year.
