An epic rise and fall for a once-ubiquitous mobile device is chronicled in the first trailer for IFC Films’ BlackBerry.
The fact-based feature from director Matt Johnson stars Jay Baruchel as Mike Lazaridis, co-founder of BlackBerry maker Research in Motion, and Glenn Howerton as the company’s former co-CEO Jim Balsillie. The trailer shows immediate tension between the pair, with Lazaridis being warned before agreeing to work with Balsillie that he is a shark.
The footage includes Howerton telling Baruchel, “I know how to market it, and I know who we can sell it to, but I want 50 percent of the company, and I’ve got to be CEO.” Surprisingly, Baruchel’s character is good with this arrangement.
Later, Howerton’s Balsillie says, “We are in a race to get this thing to market, and we are a year behind — I need a prototype.”
Another pivotal scene shows Lazaridis, played by Baruchel, offering assistance to a first-time user of the device: “Try typing with your thumbs.”
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The film is adapted from Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff’s book, Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry.
Johnson directed BlackBerry from a script he co-wrote with Matthew Miller. The film premiered last month at the Berlin Film Festival and hits theaters May 12.
The movie is produced by Fraser Ash, Niv Fichman, Kevin Krikst and Matthew Miller. Executive producers are Nate Bolotin, Maxime Cottray, Adrian Love, Jay McCarrol, Noah Segal, Nick Spicer, Aram Tertzakian and Robert Upchurch.
In his review, The Hollywood Reporter’s chief film critic David Rooney called BlackBerry “uneven but reasonably entertaining.”
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