‘BlackBerry’ movie trailer: The rise and fall of the world’s 1st smartphone | 24CA News
“Remember that phone that everyone owned before an iPhone? This is how they got started and how they got destroyed.”
That’s how director Matt Johnson describes his film BlackBerry, co-written with producer Matthew Miller. The pair of Torontonians are telling the uniquely Canadian story of the world’s first smartphone, the BlackBerry machine, created by Waterloo, Ont.-based Research in Motion (RIM).
In its heyday, the BlackBerry was in every single place — the undisputed king of cellphones, particularly amongst businesspeople. But a handful of years later, the corporate was virtually worn out utterly.
“Recounting the Canadian company’s humble yet chaotic rise to market dominance, BlackBerry is a darkly comedic telling of the tragic tale of a Canadian company that revolutionized the way we communicate, before swiftly plummeting into obsolescence,” in keeping with manufacturing firm Elevation Pictures.
Canadian actor Jay Baruchel dons silver hair to play Mike Lazaridis, the mind behind the BlackBerry, alongside Johnson, who performs his business accomplice and greatest buddy Douglas Fregin.
The trailer begins with the pair of co-founders screeching right into a car parking zone in 1996, late for a gathering with investor Jim Balsillie, who would ultimately agree to affix the corporate with the cash and business know-how wanted to promote their invention to the world.
“Ok, picture a cellphone and an email machine all in one thing,” Fregin pitches Balsillie, performed by Glenn Howerton of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia fame. “There is a free, wireless internet signal all across North America and nobody has figured out how to use it.”
The trailer teases the chaotic behind-the-scenes story of how the RIM workforce developed the prototype of the BlackBerry and ultimately introduced it to market, the place it exploded in recognition.
“Seemingly overnight the three men revolutionize the way people work, communicate and connect. Celebrities, politicians and businessmen are now addicted to their Blackberrys,” writes Elevation Pictures.
“The company’s value skyrockets, yet within a few short years shady business dealings, personal grievances, and, perhaps most dangerously, the iPhone, threaten the company’s incredible success.”
Read extra:
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We all know the way this story ends. BlackBerry was out-innovated in the long term by the sleeker, keyboard-less iPhone, however 2023’s BlackBerry makes the case that there was loads of inside turmoil throughout the firm that contributed to its downfall.
The film is an adaptation of the bestselling ebook Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of Blackberry, written by Canadian journalists Jacquie McNish, previously of the Wall Street Journal, and Sean Silcoff of the Globe & Mail.
“It’s funny that the film is based on a book called The Rise and Fall of Blackberry,” shares Miller. “Because to me, they’re a huge success story. I know people think they’re a bit of a joke because of their rapid downfall, but they also had a meteoric rise. Blackberry is some of the best of what Canada is capable of.”
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‘BlackBerry’ involves theatres throughout Canada on May 12.
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