(Left) Mikey Madison accepts the Oscar® for Actress in a Leading Role during the live ABC Telecast of the 97th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 2, 2025. Credit/Provider: Trae Patton / The Academy. Copyright: ©A.M.P.A.S. (Right) Male Actor in a Comedy Series, Jeremy Allen White, ‘The Bear’ 30th Screen Actors Guild Awards, Show, Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, USA – 24 Feb 2024. Credit: Photo by Christopher Polk/Shutterstock for SAG.
Preview:
- Jeremy Allen White and Mikey Madison are the top choices for ‘The Social Network II”.
- Aaron Sorkin is writing and directing the follow-up.
- It’s not a direct sequel to the 2010 David Fincher Oscar winner, but continues focusing on Facebook.
Around a month ago, we learned that, after fiddling with ideas for a while, Aaron Sorkin had come up with a way to follow up 2010’s ‘The Social Network’, which won three Oscars, including one for Sorkin’s screenplay, and chronicled the difficult birth of Facebook.
Now, with the result widespread (and one of the key players in social media harm), Sorkin is developing ‘The Social Network II’ –– not a direct sequel, but instead something peeling back the layers of Facebook and its parent company Meta.
“You don’t get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies.”
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2 hr 1 minOct 1st, 2010
According to Deadline, Sorkin and Sony are confident in the material to begin putting out feelers to actors, with white-hot names Jeremy Allen White (a multiple award winner for ‘The Bear’) and ‘Anora’ Oscar winner Mikey Madison at the top of the list.
No formal offers have been made to either actor, so watch this space to see if they do jump aboard.
The Hollywood Reporter has learned that, assuming their deals close, Madison would be Frances Haugen, the data engineer-turned-whistleblower who went to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Wall Street Journal with her information. White would play the former WSJ tech reporter who leads the breaking of the Facebook files.
And that’s not all… Jeremy Strong is also reportedly under consideration, and might end up playing debated Facebook creator (and current boss) Mark Zuckerberg this time around, replacing Jesse Eisenberg.
Related Article: Aaron Sorkin Ready to Write and Direct ‘The Social Network Part II’
What was the story of ‘The Social Network’?
(L to R) Andrew Garfield and Jesse Eisenberg in ‘The Social Network’. Photo: Sony Pictures Releasing.
The 2010 original, which as mentioned had David Fincher calling the shots, looked at the difficult evolution of Facebook from college ranking system created –– again, there’s debate as the movie suggests –– by Zuckerberg, played there by Eisenberg.
‘The Social Network’ charts Zuckerberg and his system’s rise to ubiquity and the people who ended up suing for their share of the profits, including the Winklevoss twins and old college friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield).
A huge hit with audiences and critics, it earned $226 million at the global box office.
What has Aaron Sorkin said about a ‘Social Network’ follow-up?
Jesse Eisenberg in ‘The Social Network’. Photo: Sony Pictures Releasing.
Talking on a live edition of ‘The Town’ Podcast, Sorkin announced that his concern regarding how Facebook’s system has poisoned politics on the personal and national level led him to start work on a new script, which while not a direct sequel to ‘The Social Network’, would follow up on the low-key fears that were subtextual in the original.
Here’s what Sorkin told hosts Matthew Belloni and Peter Hamby:
“Look, yeah, I’ll be writing about this. I blame Facebook for January 6. 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. There’s just growth. If Mark Zuckerberg woke up tomorrow morning and realized there is nothing you can buy for $120 billion that you can’t buy for $119 billion dollars, ‘So how about if I make a little bit less money? I will tune up integrity and tune down growth.’ Yes, you can do that by switching a one to a zero.”
Asked what exactly he’d be focused on, he told the audience that they’d have to buy a movie ticket to find that out.
We do know a little more now, though: Sorkin’s screenplay for the new movie explores the story behind the Wall Street Journal‘s ‘The Facebook Files’, an explosive series of articles published in October 2021 that exposed the inner workings of — and multiple harms caused by — the world’s largest social network.
When will ‘The Social Network II’ be on screens?
Sony has yet to confirm a release date for the new movie.
Aaron Sorkin attends the Academy’s 7th Annual Governors Awards in The Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, CA, on Saturday, November 14, 2015. Credit/Provider: Matt Petit / ©A.M.P.A.S. Copyright: ©A.M.P.A.S.
