Trailer
Plot summary
In Waterloo, Ontario, in 1996, Mike Lazaridis and his co-founder Douglas Fregin pitch their PocketLink device to businessman Jim Balsillie without success. Balsillie then loses his own job and offers to invest in the company. Lazaridis holds out until Balsillie's claim that a $16 million order from USRobotics was made in bad faith proves true, and then brings him in as co-CEO. Balsillie finds the books in poor shape and puts up his house to meet payroll. He lines up a pitch with Bell Atlantic that depends on a crude prototype built overnight. The device is rebranded the BlackBerry and becomes a worldwide hit.
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Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about BlackBerry (2023)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- BlackBerry became the most nominated film in Canadian Screen Awards history, picking up 17 nominations, and it won 14 of them, including Best Motion Picture.
- Former Research in Motion executives objected to how the film portrayed the company, and Jim Balsillie said his depiction as an aggressive, amoral businessman was almost entirely fictional, even while praising Glenn Howerton's performance.
- BlackBerry once controlled 45% of the global cell phone market at its peak; the closing captions note that its market share later fell to 0%, with the phones no longer made.
