Rarely does a movie fall into the 'tech' category crossover as beautifully as Matt Johnson's BlackBerry, which is hotly expected to be a 2024 Oscars contender following its incredible reception since its May 2023 limited cinematic release – it's got a whopping 98% critics' rating on score-aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes right now.
But get this: BlackBerry is also coming to TV and streaming as a three-part mini-series this month. Titled BlackBerry: The Limited Series, Johnson has not only chopped the movie up into three series segments, but an additional 16 minutes of unseen footage have been woven into the mix (making a 137-minute total compared to the movie's original 121-minute runtime).
To me that sounds like a Director's Cut of sorts, albeit destined for TV and streaming, giving the original flick extra legs to reach a much wider audience. At least that's my hope as, right now, the deal is with AMC – meaning it's a North American audience (plus Australia, New Zealand, India and Spain, according to AMC+'s official site). And, having checked AMC UK's schedule, BlackBerry: The Limited Series is not yet scheduled to show.
If you are in the correct region, however, then The Limited Series will show across three consecutive days: Monday 13 November, Tuesday 14 November, concluding Wednesday 15 November, with each episode airing at 22:00 ET (19:00 PT / 03:00+1 if you're being a bit naughty and using one of the best VPNs from a UK source). It'll be available as all three episodes on AMC+ in full from 13 November.
I watched BlackBerry (as in the movie original, not the new series adaptation) whilst on a long-haul plane journey and, as someone who lived through Research In Motion's rise to prominence in the 1990s (and fall from the gods in the 2000s) it's a fascinating docudrama (well, screenplay "based on a true story" – read that as loosely as you wish), with Glenn Howerton's lead role delivery being the real star.
I do hope that BlackBerry: The Limited Series finds wider publishing rights with the other best streaming services – whether Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime or others (the pricing of each which you can peruse in the widget below) – because it's a really entertaining, funny yet heartfelt experience that well deserves its (surely forthcoming?) Oscars 2024 nomination(s). One to add to the wishlist for UK viewers for now...
