BlackBerry (2023)

Jay Baruchel and Glenn Howerton star as the minds behind the BlackBerry in biopic based on book

BlackBerry is a Canadian dramedy biopic directed by Matt Johnson for Elevation Pictures. It is from a script developed by Johnson and producer Matthew Miller originally based on the book Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry by Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff. Along with Miller, the film is produced by Fraser Ash, Niv Fichman and Kevin Krikst. Johnson’s previous directing credits include the 2013 found footage thriller, The Dirties, and Operation Avalanche. During its highest point of success around September 2011, BlackBerry boasted 85 million global subscribers. However, as Android and iOS platforms gained popularity, BlackBerry lost its dominant market position which resulted in a steep decline in numbers. By March 2016, the subscriber count had plummeted to 23 million, marking a decline of nearly 75 percent.

Jay Baruchel portrays BlackBerry’s founder Mike Lazaridis while Glenn Howerton stars as Jim Balsillie, the former Chair and co-CEO of Research In Motion which later became BlackBerry Limited. The rest of the cast includes Cary Elwes as Carl Yankowski, Saul Rubinek as John Woodman, Michael Ironside as Charles Purdy, Rich Sommer as Paul Stannos, SungWon Cho as Ritchie Cheung, Michelle Giroux as Dara Frankel and director Johnson as Douglas Fregin.