CODA (2021, Sian Heder)

[Cremildo]

In a record-setting purchase, Apple Studios has emerged as the winner of “CODA,” the virtual Sundance sensation about a young hearing girl who grapples with breaking away from her deaf family.

The Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht-led studio paid close to $25 million for the film, breaking last year’s recording setting “Palm Springs” sale at north of $22 million.

As Variety previously reported, rapturous audience response and glowing reviews powered the 2021 Sundance Day One premiere to a bidding war, which included interest from Netflix and Amazon. The latter was said to be keen on the upbeat tearjerker, Variety reported, but did not have the bandwidth to release the film in 2021 with their loaded slate.

Breakout lead Emilia Jones plays Ruby, the daughter of a charismatic and tight-knit deaf family on the coast of Massachusetts. Fishermen by birth for generations, Ruby is crucial to the daily lives of her clan as the only hearing person in the house. Her dream of singing leads to a scholarship opportunity that forces a life-changing choice. [+]