Upcoming Movie Asks, ‘What Happened To The BlackBerry?’
It was only a matter of time. Someone has made a movie about a cellphone company. And it makes sense. We’ve seen a movie about the rise of Apple (Jobs), and another about Facebook (The Social Network). So why not one about the device that ruled the world before smartphones as we know them today?
Before the iPhone and the Android, there was one phone that everyone who was anyone had to have. And they did. I’m talking about the BlackBerry. It was the go-to device for getting business done as it pioneered the merging of the cellphone with email. At its peak in 2012, there were roughly 80-million BlackBerry users worldwide. Today, BlackBerry is strictly a software company specializing in cybersecurity. Meanwhile, the total number of smartphone users is now close to 7-billion.
The first trailer (below) for the upcoming film, BlackBerry, has been released. According to TechCrunch, the movie is based on the 2015 book, Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry. It looks at the history of the Canadian company, from its early days as wireless data technology developer Research In Motion (RIM), through the BlackBerry’s meteoric rise, to the once-iconic device’s eventual downfall with the emergence of other smartphones.
The trailer features scenes of the exciting times when dizzying amounts of money were pouring into BlackBerry, as well as the company’s founders’ hearts breaking when they watch Steve Jobs announce the iPhone. However, the story is presented with a lot of humor. BlackBerry stars comedy veterans Jay Baruchel, Glenn Howerton, and Matt Johnson, who also directed the film. It opens in theaters on May 12th.
