Something to look forward to: One of the best movies ever made about the tech industry, The Social Network, is getting a quasi-sequel. The story of Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg will continue with original writer Aaron Sorkin returning. He will also be taking David Fincher's place behind the camera this time around.
2010's The Social Network, an adaptation of Ben Mezrich's book The Accidental Billionaires, follows the story of Facebook and creator Mark Zuckerberg's early days. It was nominated for eight Oscars, including Best Picture, winning three for its adapted screenplay, editing, and score. The film made $224 million worldwide.
Sorkin has been teasing the possibility of a follow-up for years. Now, Deadline reports that The Social Network Part 2 is officially in development at Sony Pictures. Despite the name, this is not a straight sequel.
The new Social Network will be based on the Wall Street Journal series The Facebook Files. The September 2021 investigative series – plus an accompanying podcast – was based on thousands of internal Facebook documents leaked by former product-manager-turned-whistleblower Frances Haugen.
The files revealed that company executives repeatedly knew about serious harms created by their platforms yet failed to act when doing so threatened growth or revenue. One revelation was that the company's internal research showed how harmful Instagram could be to teenagers' mental health, despite Facebook constantly saying otherwise.
Jesse Eisenberg earned an Oscar nomination for his excellent portrayal of Zuckerberg in the original. It's not been confirmed if he will be returning for the second movie.
Zuckerberg himself isn't a fan of The Social Network. He recently said that while it got many specifics correct, right down to the clothes he was wearing at the time, "the whole narrative arc around my motivations and all this stuff were, like, completely wrong."
Sorkin previously said he would only make a sequel if Fincher returned to direct it. He seems to have changed his stance, and last year confirmed he had begun writing about Meta's recent controversies. "I blame Facebook for January 6," Sorkin said. When asked why, he replied, "You're going to need to buy a movie ticket."
Sources say the movie will also focus on Facebook's influence on the 2020 election, children, violence, and countries outside of the US.
"Facebook has been, among other things, tuning its algorithm to promote the most divisive material possible. Because that is what will increase engagement. That is what will get you to – what they call inside the hallways of Facebook – 'the infinite scroll' … There's supposed to be a constant tension at Facebook between growth and integrity. There isn't. It's just growth," Sorkin said.