“Picture a cellphone and an email machine all in one thing.”
So begins the trailer for BlackBerry, which tells the story of the at-one-time massively successful Canadian smartphone line from Waterloo, Ont.-based Research In Motion.
It stars Canadian Jay Baruchel as company co-creator Mike Lazaridis and Glenn Howerton as co-CEO Jim Balsillie. Blackberry had its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival in February, and screened at Austin Texas festival South By Southwest on Tuesday.
Like the film itself, the trailer outlines the rise and fall of the Blackberry, beginning with Lazaridis and company co-creator Douglas Fregin (played by director Matt Johnson) bringing Balsillie into the fold as CEO.
Watch: BlackBerry Trailer
Later a group of executives are presented a prototype of the titular smartphone.
“Try typing with your thumbs,” suggests Lazaridis.
The film was adapted from the 2015 book Losing the Signal: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of BlackBerry, by Sean Silcoff and Jacquie McNish.
“At one point in time [Research in Motion] controlled 50 per cent of the cellphone market,” director Johnson told CBC’s Elamin Abdelmahmoud in an interview on Commotion last month.
“There was a shining moment, when a Canadian company had a larger control of the cellphone market than Apple does now.”
Blackberry releases in theatres May 12, and will be available on CBC and CBC Gem early next year.
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