A Sundance Deal Record; 'Little Things' Tops Box Office; THR Songwriters Roundtable

[The Hollywood Reporter]( Today In Entertainment FEBRUARY 01, 2021 What's news: Could Sundance films find an easier path to the Oscars this year? CODA sets a Sundance deal record, The Little Things tops the box office alongside HBO Max debut, NBA star Chris Paul producing The Undefeated's first ESPN+ production, Berlinale jury turns to former Golden Bear winners. Plus: Why Wayne's World is back, and The THR Songwriters Roundtable. --Alex Weprin [Songwriters Roundtable] Songwriters Roundtable ►On the cover: The THR Songwriters Roundtable. Mary J. Blige, John Legend, Janelle Monáe, Leslie Odom Jr. and Justin Timberlake talk politics, pandemic and keeping hope alive. In a conversation with THR editorial director Nekesa Moody, some of the industry's biggest musicians reflect on the songs they composed for awards contenders, personal truths revealed by the pandemic, their younger selves and missing the stage: "It’s a little sad, because we really need that more than anything." --Janelle Monáe: "I think like most of us on this call, and most Americans, [we're] dealing with COVID and having to reckon with a new life. I wasn't traveling as much as I wanted to, gigs got canceled, everything just felt like an attack on my mental health. Music has always been, when I'm writing, such a part of my normalcy. It just feels normal for me to be in the studio, for me to be learning how to play an instrument or engineering myself, all of that, but nothing about 2020 felt normal to me." --John Legend: "Oh, I miss it [performing for a live audience]. I definitely miss it. I love writing, I love creating new music, but there's something about that connectivity that you have when you get out there onstage. Not every artist loves it, not every artist loves to perform live. Some artists are more at home in the studio. But me personally, I truly, truly love connecting with the audience and hearing them, feeling them, seeing the smiles on their faces, seeing them dance to the music, seeing them sing along, hearing them sing along. There's something very special and unique about live concerts. No matter how many virtual things folks have tried to do, including myself, it is just not the same. (Laughs.)" --Justin Timberlake: "I always felt like the work that I did when nobody was watching was the most important work. I come from a creed and a generation that the hardest job you have is to make it look like it all just came so easily to you, you know? And if you do have that fire, then you are going to skip those functions, skip the hangouts — you are going to skip some of it. You become a real adult when you find out that every decision you make comes with opportunity, but it also has to come with a sacrifice." [The THR Songwriters Roundtable](. [The Latest From Sundance...] The Latest From Sundance... ►Sundance films could find an easier path to the Oscars thanks to the pandemic. Films that debut with a splash in Park  City don't always make the year-long trek to the Academy  Awards — but this year could be different, Gregg Kilday writes. --"There's even the possibility that if a hungry streamer moves quickly, it could pick up a movie that makes a splash at this year's fest — possibly Rebecca Hall's racial drama Passing, starring Tessa Thompson and Oscar nominee Ruth Negga, or Sian Heder's look at a deaf family, Coda, featuring Oscar winner Marlee Matlin — and quickly qualify it for Oscar consideration while mounting an eleventh-and-a-half-hour campaign." [The story](. +A Sundance record-breaker: Apple has nabbed the rights to Sundance drama CODA from writer-director Sian Heder in a deal worth $25 million. Heading into the fest, it was anticipated that the movie would be one of Sundance's hottest titles. A bidding war began after the movie's day one premiere, which saw Netflix and Amazon put in bids for the movie. --The final $25 million price tag makes the film the biggest sale in the festival's history, beating out last year's record-breaker Palm Springs, which sold to Neon and Hulu in a deal that was worth $22 million. (Prior to Palm Springs, 2016's Birth of a Nation held the record with a $17.5 million to Fox Searchlight.) [The story](. +More deals: Sony Pictures Classics has [acquired worldwide rights]( to Sundance drama Jockey. The U.S. dramatic competition title stars Clifton Collins, Jr., Molly Parker and Moises Arias, and was the directorial debut for Clint Bentley... Neon [has picked up]( Jamila Wignot’s documentary Ailey, about dance and choreography legend Alvin Ailey. The deal is Neon's second at Sundance after it nabbed the North American rights to Flee... +Also: Edgar Wright talks wrangling Mike Myers, Neil Gaiman and other fans for Sparks doc. "I’d say, 'You’re a Sparks fan, right?'" says the Shaun of the Dead filmmaker of the cold calls he made for his documentary debut The Sparks Brothers. [The interview](. +Sundance reviews: [Try Harder!](... [Wild Indian](... [The Sparks Brothers](... [A Glitch In The Matrix](... [Land](... [At The Ready](... [Together Together](... [Street Gang: How We Got To Sesame Street](... [Mass](... [Eight For Silver](... [Prisoners of the Ghostland](... +Meanwhile in Berlin: Six former winners of the Berlin International Film Festival's Golden Bear for best film will make up the jury for this year's event. Berlin on Monday unveiled the six jurors: --Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, last year's winner for There is No Evil; Nadav Lapid from Israel, whose Synonyms won top honors in 2019; Romanian filmmaker Adina Pintilie, director of controversial 2018 winner Touch Me Not; Hungary's Ildiko Enyedi, Golden Bear winner for On Body and Soul (2017); Italian filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi, whose refugee documentary Fire at Sea took Berlin's top prize in 2016; and Bosnia director Jasmila Zbanic, winner for Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams in 2006. [The story](. ►Box office: The star-packed period crime-drama The Little Things won another subdued race at the weekend box office with an estimated $4.8 million debut. It is the first 2021 film from Warner Bros. to open simultaneously on HBO Max and in cinemas amid the ongoing pandemic, a controversial decision that has irked some in Hollywood. --Warners says The Little Things scored the largest domestic debut for an R-rated film since the pandemic began. Overseas, the Los Angeles-set neo-noir opened to $2.8 million from 18 markets for a worldwide start of $7.6 million. --HBO Max did not reveal viewership numbers for The Little Things. "We are absolutely thrilled by how Warner Bros.’ The Little Things is performing on HBO Max — it immediately shot up to number one, where it currently remains. Following the breakthrough success of Wonder Woman 1984, The Little Things shows the insatiable appetite our audience has for high quality, feature films," said Andy Forssell, HBO Max and executive VP and general manager. [The story](. [The Undefeated's First ESPN+ Project] The Undefeated's First ESPN+ Project ►NBA star Chris Paul executive producing ESPN+ docuseries on HBCU basketball team. Why Not Us, which follows North Carolina Central, premieres Feb. 12 as the first project under the new The Undefeated on ESPN+ partnership, Rebecca Sun reports. --“Even though I grew up right there with all those HBCUs, they didn’t really recruit me because they didn’t think they had a chance,” says Paul, who is now pursuing a degree at Winston-Salem State. “When I was coming up, you felt like you had to attend a PWI [predominantly white institution] in order to be seen.” [The story](. +In other sports media news: Fox Sports veteran Colin Cowherd is starting his own podcast network. The network, called The Volum, will feature a slate of sports talk podcasts, and will be developed in partnership with iHeartRadio. FanDuel has signed on as a presenting sponsor. ►On Saturday Night Live: In its first episode of 2021, SNL asked in the cold open: "What Still Works?" in America. John Krasinski was the host, and yes, there was a bit about The Office. [The sketches](... +Wayne's World is back: You may have seen Mike Myers and Dana Carvey reprise their roles as Wayne and Garth during a brief commercial spot on SNL. The spot was for Uber Eats, with the mobile app set to debut a feature-length ad [during the Super Bowl]( this coming weekend on CBS. It will be the second year in a row that a Super Bowl ad calls back to the golden days of the early 1990s (las year Bill Murray appeared in a Groundhog Day-inspired ad. ►Film reviews: Frank Scheck reviews Bliss, writing that As with both of his previous works [Another Earth and I Origins], the filmmaker [Mike Cahill] delivers an undeniably ambitious mind-bender that bites off more than it can narratively chew. [The review](. +Michael Rechtshaffen reviews Earwig and the Witch, writing that despite the occasional lively visual touches, and a playfully out-of-character '70s prog rock score by Satoshi Takebe, the ghoulish display too often conjures up a standard-issue Hotel Transylvania rather than an inspired Coraline. [The review](. Obituaries... +Allan Burns, the six-time Emmy winner who partnered to create one of the best sitcoms of all time, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and one of the worst, My Mother the Car, has died. He was 85. Burns died Saturday, his frequent writer partner, James L. Brooks, reported on Twitter. [More](. +Marc Wilmore, a TV writer whose credits include F Is for Family and The Simpsons, died Saturday "while battling COVID and other conditions that have had him in pain for many years," his brother, comedian Larry Wilmore, revealed on Twitter. He was 57. Calling Marc "my sweet sweet brother," Larry tweeted: "My brother was the kindest, gentlest, funniest, lion of an angel I’ve ever known. I love you little brother." [More](. +Sophie, one of the most important figures in the last decade of underground pop and dance music, has died. A statement tweeted by her Future Classic label on Saturday morning confirms the artist's passing, explaining "Our beautiful Sophie passed away this morning after a terrible accident. True to her spirituality she had climbed up to watch the full moon and accidentally slipped and fell." She was 34. [More](. In other news... --The Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL) is [set to give its Spirit of Collaboration Award]( to six-time Grammy winning and Oscar-nominated composer Terence Blanchard and Academy Award-winning writer, director and producer Spike Lee. --Tony Bennett and his family on Monday revealed that [he has been battling]( Alzheimer’s disease. --A Wipeout contestant who died last fall after completing the television obstacle course succumbed to a heart attack, [according to medical officials](. --Dan Abrams, chief legal correspondent at ABC News and longtime TV host, is [adding winery owner]( to his resumé. In December, the media personality purchased popular Long Island vineyard Laurel Lake, with plans to transform it into a luxury winery and lifestyle brand “where Napa meets the Hamptons.” --Justin Timberlake [has confirmed]( that a new album is on the horizon. What else we're reading... --"A+E's pitch to upfront buyers: Count older viewers too" [[Broadcasting & Cable](] --"Amazon can make just about anything... except a good video game" [[Bloomberg](] --"He 'horrifically abused me for years': Evan Rachel Wood and other women make allegations of abuse against Marilyn Manson" [[Vanity Fair](] --"McCarley plans spring exit from Golf Channel" [[Sports Business Journal](] Today's birthdays: Harry Styles, 27, Pauly Shore, 53, Big Boi, 46, Michael C. Hall, 50, Ronda Rousey, 34. [Image] [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn]( Is this e-mail not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.]( ©2021 The Hollywood Reporter, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media, LLC. 11175 Santa Monica Boulevard Los Angeles, CA, 90025 All rights reserved. FEBRUARY 01, 2021 [UNSUBSCRIBE]( [MANAGE PREFERENCES]( [PRIVACY POLICY]( [TERMS OF USE](