One Of The Best Movies You Missed This Year Is Being Turned Into A TV Miniseries On AMC
One of the most acclaimed movies of the year is being turned into a miniseries by AMC. For better or worse, "BlackBerry," which was released in theaters back in May, is going to be repurposed as a three-episode TV show that will air on the cable network next month across three nights. It will also be streaming on AMC+. While this opens the movie up to a larger audience, it's going to be presented in a way that was not originally intended, making this something of a bittersweet situation. More on that in a second. For now, let's get into the specifics.
Billed as a "special television event," the miniseries version of director Matt Johnson's "BlackBerry" includes 16 minutes of new footage. It will air in three parts on November 13, 14, and 15 on AMC, with all three episodes available on AMC+ on November 13. Dan McDermott, president of entertainment and AMC Studios for AMC Networks, had this to say about it:
"We are thrilled to bring BlackBerry to AMC and AMC+ in the form of this three-part limited series for television, featuring extended scenes and new footage sure to delight the fans of this lively and frequently hilarious true-life drama. This is a truly entertaining story with great performances, whether you are old enough to have owned one of these once ubiquitous devices or not."
"BlackBerry" stars Glenn Howerton ("It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia") and Jay Baruchel ("This Is The End") and tells the story of the meteoric rise and catastrophic demise of the world's first smartphone. You can watch the trailer right here. The ensemble cast also includes Cary Elwes ("Saw"), Saul Rubinek ("True Romance"), Rich Sommer ("Mad Men"), Martin Donovan ("Big Little Lies"), Michael Ironside ("Starship Troopers"), and Matt Johnson ("Operation Avalanche"). Johnson also directed the film.
Repurposing good material, for better or worse
For AMC Networks, as a larger business with much to consider, it's not hard to understand why doing something like this makes sense. "BlackBerry" made the festival rounds earlier this year and was met with stellar reviews. The movie, which hails from IFC Films, currently boasts a 98% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, to go with a 94% audience score. You can read /Film's 8 out of 10 review of the film right here. Those are the kind of reviews a studio would buy if they could, but that level of positivity can't realistically be purchased. It has to come from a genuine place.
Unfortunately, that buzz doesn't always translate to commercial success. Despite having a "Social Network" vibe to it, the film topped out at just $2.7 million globally at the box office against a $5 million budget. Granted, that's not a sizable budget by Hollywood standards but, with ticket sales being what they were, IFC was relying on other revenue streams to justify the cost. VOD was undoubtedly what they were going to lean on the hardest. Now though, the movie is getting completely repurposed and retooled in order to have a second shot at life.
AMC Networks actually owns IFC Films, so it's also easy to see the corporate synergy going on here. All it would take is someone frustrated and/or desperate enough to look at this well-reviewed movie with tons of potential that just didn't catch on to say, "Hey, can't we just turn this into a show?" Movies are not TV and TV is not movies but, if Johnson was directly involved, perhaps he had a vision for how to carve up his movie for television. Hence, the addition of 16 minutes of material, which will allow for three, 45-minute episodes, give or take.
Taking the good with the bad
With the Writers Guild of America strike that only recently ended and the Screen Actors Guild still on strike, Hollywood is at a standstill. That means no new scripted shows. AMC is a network that very much relies on new programming. That makes the whole "'BlackBerry' as a miniseries instead of a movie" idea make far more sense. In any other year, a company as big as AMC would have just written this off as an unfortunate loss and moved on.
That would be another form of tragedy but now the movie version runs the risk of being dwarfed by the miniseries. Something about that doesn't sit right. I don't know how "BlackBerry" is going to work as a TV show. Maybe it will be great. At the very least, it won't be something that should have been a movie stretched out to eight episodes to suit the TV model. It certainly opens up a great piece of work to a much larger audience. It no longer faces a certain fate of being forgotten to time.
That having been said, this is my current favorite movie of the year, and I don't say that lightly. The movie I love so much is being carved up so that it can meet the needs of a larger corporate entity. That's a tough pill to swallow. This probably wouldn't be happening if the movie had been even a modest hit. It likely won't qualify for the Oscars it should be qualifying for. It won't take its place in cinema history alongside "The Social Network" as an outstanding look at the perils of the tech industry in the 2000s. It will, instead, generate some buzz akin to, "Hey, did you see that show about the 'BlackBerry' guy? It was pretty good." But more people might see it now at least, and that has to count for something.
"BlackBerry" begins airing on AMC on November 13, 2023. In the meantime, you can rent the movie on VOD through most major digital retailers.