Manori Ravindran International EditorBefore the iPhone, there was the mighty BlackBerry — the world’s first smartphone, which enjoyed a meteoric rise in the early 2000s only to meet a catastrophic demise.A new movie from “The Dirties” and “Operation Avalanche” director Matt Johnson, simply entitled “BlackBerry,” will detail the rise and fall of the once-ubiquitous device as its Canadian parent company Research in Motion floundered in legal disputes and eventually lost its market advantage to competitors such as Apple and Samsung.

At the heart of the story is the business relationship between co-founders Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie.The film’s cast is led by Jay Baruchel (“This Is The End,” “Knocked Up”) and Glenn Howerton (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” “A.P.

Bio”). Though it’s not yet confirmed, it’s likely they will play the firm’s founders. Other cast members include Cary Elwes (“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning,” “Saw”), Saul Rubinek (“Hunters,” “True Romance”), Rich Sommer (“The Devil Wears Prada,” “Mad Men”), Martin Donovan (“Tenet,” “Big Little Lies”), Michael Ironside (“Total Recall,” “Scanners”) and Johnson (“The Dirties,” “Operation Avalanche”).Johnson and Miller adapted the screenplay from the bestselling 2015 book “Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry” by Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff, reporters at Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail.“BlackBerry” has now wrapped production.XYZ Films, which co-financed the movie, will be introducing the project to buyers at TIFF.

Elevation Pictures will distribute the film in Canada.“BlackBerry” is produced by Niv Fichman (“Enemy,” “The Red Violin”), Matthew Miller (“The Dirties,” “Operation.

‘BlackBerry’: Story of Doomed Smartphone Company Casts Jay Baruchel & Glenn Howerton, XYZ Films Boards Sales for TIFF (EXCLUSIVE)

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