Sundance 2026: Still no major deals but plenty of real-world tension

PARK CITY, Utah — Welcome to a special Sundance Daily edition of the Wide Shot, a newsletter about the business of entertainment. Sign up here to get it in your inbox.

Good afternoon — Sundance’s third day is behind us and it’s turning out to be a gray Sunday, cooler, with a high of 24 degrees.

As it always has been, year after year, Sundance is proving to be a combustible place where bracing new work collides with real-world anxieties. The violence in Minneapolis isn’t far from mind for most attendees and we’re taking the opportunity to gather as many reactions as we can.

“These are not normal times,” actor Edward Norton told us in an interview Sunday morning. “It’s like we have extrajudicial assaults on Americans and humans going on on a daily basis now. And it’s not OK. Even though all people kind of have to put one foot in front of the other and deal with the demands of the day, we cannot act like this is not happening.”

Meanwhile, Amy Nicholson is live with her first critical dispatch, one that takes in movies as disparate as the killer-unicorn dark comedy “Buddy,” Charli XCX’s “The Moment,” Gregg Araki’s “I Want Your Sex” and her own sense of nostalgia, saying goodbye to Park City like Charli saying goodbye to her brat summer: “I’m not ready to end my own Park City winter era just yet,” Amy writes.

Recapturing a lost summer from the Malibu fires

Director Tamra Davis debuted her new documentary “The Best Summer,” a charming excavation of raw video interviews she did while on a mid-’90s tour with her then-recently married husband Mike D of Beastie Boys. Mark Olsen spoke to Davis at her house in Malibu, which thankfully survived last year’s fires, though in her rush to flee the scene, she found this box of old videos. It’s a great example of something good coming out of something bad.

Meanwhile, our Vanessa Franko attended last night’s premiere and has this report:

Time-traveling and rocking out at a midnight debut

I expected the live performances of artists like the Beastie Boys, Bikini Kill and Pavement to transport me back to the mid-‘90s in Tamra Davis’ “The Best Summer,” but perhaps the biggest nostalgia hit was watching the audience on the screen react to the performers in those halcyon days of concert going before smartphones.

In the film, we see a young Dave Grohl tell Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna about his fear of speaking to the crowd from the stage; the Beastie Boys mimicking a water aerobics class happening at a tropical resort pool on a day off; and Beck reveal that he bought his underwear at Sears — all on a whirlwind tour of Australia and Southeast Asia in the final days of 1995 and into 1996.

The tidbits of regular life for these artists are just as engaging as the performances, which Davis captured on a Sony camcorder that had amazingly great sound. (She said she had to buy a camera just to be able to watch the tapes after moving them while evacuating the fires.)

The reveals continued after the screening: At the Q&A, Hanna said the bands would use hotel stationery to communicate who was throwing the party that night. And while watching the film, she realized Foo Fighters guitarist Pat Smear stole her skirt.

On a sweeter note, in the film you see Hanna and Beastie Boys’ Adam Horovitz, who recently celebrated their 30th anniversary, flirting with each other.

“It’s funny to remember that feeling of falling in love,” Hanna said.

At the moderator’s prompting, Sonic Youth bassist Kim Gordon imparted a final thought to the audience.

“Sorry you weren’t able to enjoy the ‘90s,” she said as the crowd laughed. — Vanessa Franko

What are we watching today?

“All About the Money” (Library Center Theatre, 3 p.m.)

Fergie Chambers in the documentary “All About the Money.”

(Sundance Institute)

If Communist revolutionary Fergie Chambers had a dollar for every time he said something outrageous, he’d have roughly $250 million dollars — which he does. The heavily-tattooed scion of one of America’s old money families can trace his lineage to a presidential candidate, an ambassador and a NASA scientist.

His current path, however, changes several times over the course of Sinéad O’Shea’s documentary, which unspools like you’re being taken down a maze covered in Lenin stickers. “All About the Money” starts idyllically with Chambers funding an activist commune in Massachusetts.

But when the group vigorously protests the war in Gaza, only the poor residents get charged with criminal mischief. The rich rabble-rouser simply shifts to his next crusade. Isn’t he in moral debt to his disciples?

O’Shea listens more than she prods. Yet, as you might expect from a guy who once tweeted “Hamas >>>> Gandhi,” Chambers doesn’t mince words. He can afford to be disliked. — Amy Nicholson

“Union County” (Eccles Theatre, 3 p.m.)

Will Poulter, left, and Noah Centineo in the movie “Union County.”

(Stefan Weinberger / Sundance Institute)

Premiering as part of the U.S. Dramatic Competition is the feature debut from writer-director Adam Meeks. Set in rural Ohio, the film explores the human-scale cost of the opioid crisis by combining elements of fiction and documentary for a film that feels lived-in and authentic.

Working with an actual court-mandated rehab program that seems startlingly empathetic toward those who join it, people attempting to rebuild their lives with a sense of soul-deep struggle, the film’s cast is made up largely of nonprofessional actors.

Add to that Will Poulter and Noah Centino as foster brothers who both find themselves before the court and trying to rebuild their lives. As Poulter’s Cody makes a more genuine effort to get straight, Centino’s Jack struggles to give up his old ways, building to shattering revelations. — Mark Olsen

Will popular movies find deals?

In recent years, the biggest film deals have happened toward the end of Sundance, if not in the days and weeks afterward. So far, this year seems to be following a similar trajectory.

There’s buzz around several films, including the Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan-led drama “Josephine,” as well as the romantic fantasy “Wicker” starring Olivia Colman, but no big announcements yet.

There’s still time. After all, last year’s first big deal — Neon’s acquisition of the Alison Brie and Dave Franco body-horror rom-com “Together” — was announced during the festival’s final days. Same with Netflix’s purchase of the Oscar-nominated Joel Edgerton drama “Train Dreams.”

Filmmakers are also hopeful about the emergence of new buyers in the industry.

I mentioned Warner Bros.’ new specialty label in the first Sundance edition of The Wide Shot, but there’s also West Hollywood-based Row K Entertainment and indie studio Black Bear, which launched a U.S. distribution arm last year. There’s also curiosity about Paramount’s existing acquisition-only label Republic Pictures, which is now led by producer Lia Buman.

The fact that more buyers have entered the market has given some filmmakers sense of optimism — after all, the thinking goes, why would they push into this space unless they saw an opportunity?

Newer labels in particular might want to get a buzzy title to make a splash and establish their brand, industry insiders say. It’s still early, so it remains to be seen how the deals will shape up this year. — Samantha Masunaga