Canada_ (Commonwealth) _ Research In Motion (RIM), now known as BlackBerry Limited, is a Canadian technology company that gained worldwide recognition for producing highly popular smartphones. The company was co-founded by Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie in Waterloo, Ontario, in 1984.
The BlackBerry trailer, a film about the rise and fall of the iconic smartphone brand, features Canadian actors Glenn Howerton as co-CEO Jim Balsillie and Jay Baruchel as Mike Lazaridis, one of the company’s co-founders. The trailer provides a glimpse into the intense competition and high stakes involved in the smartphone industry.
The film Blackberry made its international debut at the Berlin International Film Festival in February, where it was well-received by audiences and critics alike. The film was shown on Tuesday at the South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, providing further exposure to the film and the BlackBerry brand.
The BlackBerry smartphone was known for its signature physical keyboard and push email capabilities, which made it a popular choice among business professionals. However, the rise of touchscreen smartphones from competitors such as Apple and Samsung led to a decline in BlackBerry’s market share, eventually resulting in the company’s transformation from a smartphone manufacturer to a software company.
The trailer follows the development of the Blackberry, beginning with Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin (played by filmmaker Matt Johnson) appointing Balsillie’s lap as CEO. Later, a prototype of the named smartphone is shown to a group of executives. Try using your thumbs to type, advises Lazaridis. The 2015 book Losing the Signal: The Astonishing Rise and Fall of BlackBerry by Sean Silcoff and Jacquie McNish served as the basis for the movie. When a Canadian business controlled more of the mobile phone industry than Apple does now, it was a glorious time.
