BLACKBERRY
Section: Narrative Spotlight
Director: Matt Johnson
Screenwriter: Matt Johnson, Matthew Miller
Logline: The story of the meteoric rise and catastrophic demise of the world’s first smartphone.
Sales Agent: XYZ Films
Panelists: Matt Johnson, Matthew Miller, Glenn Howerton
Premiered: March 13, 2023
Key Quote: Johnson: “What Glenn and Jay are doing in the film is so unique and, I don’t want to say bizarre, but it is not the type of film that anybody is expecting about a stupid dead cellphone… Real movies are always funny because people are funny. I’ve never been in a situation in my entire life that, even the tensest, wasn’t at some level funny and I that most movies are dead and cold if they don’t admit that.”
Howerton: “Anyone with an extreme point of view is going to be funny, and if a person doesn’t have an extreme point of view, then they’re not very dramatic and interesting to watch.”
Johnson: “This movie winds up being funny because you can’t believe people are actually acting like this, right? Because they’re taking the drama so seriously.”
The Deadline Studio at SXSW runs March 10-13, where the cast and creatives behind the best and buzziest titles in this year’s lineup sit down with Deadline’s festival team to discuss their movies and the paths they took to get to Austin, Texas.
