Before the entire smartphone landscape was essentially reduced to an all-out war between Apple and Samsung (with the odd intervention from Google), BlackBerry reigned supreme, and as you’ll soon learn/recall thanks to the forthcoming IFC movie, it was much more than just its flagship device’s keyboard “gimmick.” It marked the beginning of the smartphone revolution.
Adapted from Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry by Jacquie McNight and Sean Silcoff, this biopic stars:
- Jay Baruchel as the company’s co-founder Mike Lazaridis
- Matt Johnson as the other co-founder Douglas Fregin
- Cary Elwes as Palm CEO Carl Yankowski
- It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia star Glenn Howerton (AKA The Golden God) as BlackBerry Chair & CEO Jim Balsillie.
The BlackBerry movie cast also includes Saul Rubinek as John Woodman, Michael Ironside as Charles Purdy, Rich Sommer as Paul Stannos, Michelle Giroux as Dara Frankel, plus Mark Critch and SungWon Cho.
But Matt Johnson hasn’t just appeared onscreen for the BlackBerry movie. The filmmaker behind The Dirties and Operation Avalanche has also directed this project, as well as having adapted McNight and Silcoff’s book into a screenplay with producer Matthew Miller. Clearly a creative who wears many hats.
The preview dropped today offers a glimpse of Johnson and Baruchel’s Douglas Fregin and Mike Lazaridis, respectively, who discover an untapped wireless signal in North America. Eventually, they decide to harness this resource by developing the first-ever mobile device with both phone and email capabilities.
After pitching to Howerton’s Jim Balsillie, they begin to build what would become the BlackBerry empire which, of course, eventually met its demise once the iPhone and touchscreens were introduced. Based on the footage provided, we’ll get to witness all of the above.
Having already been previewed at the Berlin Film Festival and the SXSW Film Festival, the BlackBerry movie starring Glenn Howerton and Jay Baruchel premieres on May 12th, 2023 – check out the trailer now.
