If 2022 was the year of tech scammers, 2023 is the year of bizarre business opportunities being glamorized for Hollywood. We saw Ben Affleck do it with sneakers for Air, and Taron Egerton brought a puzzle video game to life with Tetris, so it’s only natural that we get a movie about the high-tech cellphone that had everyone BBM-ing each other in 2008. That phrase sounded so normal at the time.
Blackberry stars Jay Baruchel as the real-life Mike Lazaridis, the founder of the infamous Blackberry phone/ businessman cult that swept the early 2000s then disappeared after the iPhone began its reign. The film is based on the nonfiction book Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry by Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff. The movie also stars Glenn Howerton, Cary Elwes, Saul Rubinek, Rich Sommer, Martin Donovan, Michael Ironside, and Matt Johnson.
According to the official logline, Blackberry tells the story of the “meteoric catastrophic demise” of the world’s first smartphone. The movie hit select theaters on May 12th, though it might be a while until it hits online.
The good news is that Hulu has a longstanding deal with IFC films, which means Blackberry will likely end up on the streamer sometime this year. Until then, you’ll have to head to your local theater in order to watch the drama/comedy.
Check out the trailer below:
