Sundance heats up – Bidding on “Flora And Son” well into eight figures (exclusive)

Heading into Monday evening Apple and Amazon were understood to be in hot pursuit of Sundance crowd-pleaser Flora And Son as bidding reached the high teens to low twenties range, according to sources.

John Carney’s story of a single mother who tries to get her broken family back together is shaping up to be one of the biggest Sundance deals on record. It stars Bono’s daughter Eve Hewson and Oren Kinlan. WME Independent, Fifth Season and FilmNation represent sales.

Following Netflix’s $20m worldwide buy on Chloe Domont’s US Dramatic Competition entry Fair Play and Searchlight Pictures’ swoop on global rights to crowd-pleaser Theater Camp, the Sundance market is steadily gathering momentum after the traditionally slow opening weekend.

By Tuesday every selection will have screened in person and sources say buyers are eager to close deals before treasures become more widely exposed to the acquisitions community once the portal goes live on Tuesday.

A worldwide streamer offer is understood to be in for Beyond Utopia, Madeleine Gavin’s highly regarded film about North Korean defectors that premiered in US Documentary Competition. A worldwide offer is also available for The Eternal Memory and Maite Alberdi’s The Mole Agent10, which are both sequels to the

The Mole Agent10 film about an elderly couple in Chile with Alzheimer’s disease. Submarine and UTA Independent Film Group jointly represent rights.UTA Independent Film Group continues eight-figure negotiations on Andrew Durham’s US Dramatic Competition entry Fairyland , which Arclight Films represents for international. The sales agent is also fielding interest in Susanna Fogel’s Premieres entry CatPerson, which is based on Kristen Roupenian’s The New Yorker short story about a flirtation that spirals out of control; and Maryam Keshavarz’s Iranian-American family drama and US Dramatic Competition entry

The Persian Version.At time of writing Bankside had received at least two offers on Midnight hit Talk To Me from Australia’s Philippou brothers. WME Independent is in talks with buyers on William Oldroyd’s Premieres selection

• Eileen