It’s 1997, you’re on the cusp of the online generations to come, and society is about to make big moves from bulky desktops to portable devices that hold everything you need in the palm of your hand. Like this year’s Tetris and Air, IFC’s BlackBerry stars Jay Baruchel (This Is the End) and Glenn Howerton (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) as the founder and CEO of the BlackBerry, and tells the story of the smartphone that dominated the market before iPhones. In an interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub, Baruchel and Howerton discuss the impact these phones had on society, and how they knew this biopic was going to be something special.
BlackBerry, which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival and South by Southwest this year, stars Cary Elwes, Rich Sommer, and co-writer and director, Matt Johnson, alongside Baruchel and Howerton. It not only tells the triumphant underdog story of how this Canadian company clawed their way to the top, but the subsequent downfall as innovation left the so-called CrackBerrys in the past.
BlackBerry hits theaters on May 12, but before you snag tickets, Baruchel and Howerton share with us what they learned while doing their own research as BlackBerry founder, Mike Lazaridis, and CEO Jim Balsillie, respectively. They discuss projects special to them, what it was like for Howerton to shave his head, and why they weren’t afraid studios would move in on this meteoric story’s untapped potential. The duo also regale us with anecdotes about Johnson’s Stanley Kubrick-esque directing style that led to three different cuts of the film. Find out what changed post-premiere and more in the video, or you can read the full transcript further down the page.
#BlackBerry #JayBaruchel #GlennHowerton
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