BlackBerry, the world's first smartphone, had a bit of a comeback in 2023 as the BlackBerry movie became one of the best-reviewed new movies of the year. Unfortunately, it didn't have the best run in movie theaters. But more people are going to have the chance to see it now as the BlackBerry movie is getting its cable debut, set to air on AMC and reconfigured as a three-part limited series.
BlackBerry is going to premiere on AMC and AMC Plus on Monday, November 13, and air over three nights.
Described as a dramedy, BlackBerry tells the story of the meteoric rise and catastrophic demise of the world’s first smartphone and stars Jay Baruchel as Mike Lazaridis and Glenn Howerton as Jim Balsillie, the executives who led BlackBerry when it became an almost ubiquitous product. Also starring in the movie are Matt Johnson, Rich Sommer, Michael Ironside, Saul Rubinek and Cary Elwes.
Based on Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff's book Losing the Signal, the script was written by Matt Johnson and Matthew Miller, with Johnson also serving as the director.
The movie originally premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival, then premiered in the US at the South by Southwest Film Festival. The movie is "Certified Fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes with a score of 98% as of October 23. One of the highlights critics called out was It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia star Howerton, who gives a very different kind of performance as Balsille, one that critics called "ferociously good." General audiences also loved it, as the movie has a 94% positive audience score on the site.
Anyone with a cable pay-TV subscription or live TV streaming service (DirecTV, Philo TV, Sling TV, YouTube TV) that carries AMC can watch the three-night event when it premieres. The other option is to sign up for AMC Plus, where it will simultaneously be available to stream, with a monthly subscription costing $4.99 per month with ads or $8.99 per month ad-free; a free trial is available when you sign up. You can also add AMC Plus as an add-on channel on various digital services, including Prime Video.
If you don't want to wait until November 13 or would rather see the movie in its original two-hour format, it is currently available to rent via digital on-demand on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu, Apple TV and YouTube.
Here is AMC's announcement for the BlackBerry special limited series, with a quick trailer:
Get ready to witness the meteoric rise and catastrophic demise of the world's first smartphone.#BlackBerry: The Limited Series premieres as a 3-night event starting November 13 on AMC and @AMCPlus. pic.twitter.com/2TfoxZK95wOctober 22, 2023
