When Aaron Sorkin made 2010’s “The Social Network,” he had heard of Facebook, he said at the time, “the way I’ve heard of a carburetor.” Sixteen years later, he has a much deeper idea of what Mark Zuckerberg’s social media empire has become. It’s something much different now,” Sorkin says. Last week, Sony debuted the film’s trailer the same day that Meta, Facebook’s parent company, agreed to pay up to $18 billion in penalties over claims its platform endangered children.
I think people will be.” Tech moguls are getting their close-up this fall “The Social Reckoning” is one of several films this fall that will take aim at the tech moguls who have helped remake American life. Alex Gibney will unveil his four-hour documentary on Elon Musk, “Musk,” on Oct. 16. Luca Guadagnino’s “Artificial” dramatizes the saga of Sam Altman, the OpenAI chief executive.
But “The Social Reckoning,” which Sorkin wrote and directed, is sure to cause a stir given not just its subject but the legacy of “The Social Network.” Often cited as among the best American movies of the century, the film — directed by David Fincher and written by Sorkin — did much to examine and mythologize the origins of Facebook. It is, Sorkin acknowledges, a lot to live up to. But I think what’s going to happen is, 10 minutes into the movie, you’ll have forgotten about that and be invested in this.” For the 65-year-old Sorkin, “The Social Reckoning” isn’t a sequel.
It’s centered on the same figure, Zuckerberg, but captures him and his company at a dramatically different stage. Sorkin began contemplating “The Social Reckoning” around 2019, the same time he wrote an op-ed in The New York Times addressed to Zuckerberg. It alleged Facebook — which had just announced it was no longer going to fact-check political ads — was responsible for “crazy lies pumped into the water supply that corrupt the most important decisions we make together.” Zuckerberg responded by quoting Sorkin’s own dialogue from “The American President” about free speech.
Eventually, he was coaxed by Sony chief Tom Rothman and agent Ari Emanuel to wade back into one of his most beloved films. I realized there was a terrific story and the only reason not to do it is being scared. And that’s just not a good enough reason.” “The Social Reckoning” stars Mikey Madison as Haugen, a former data scientist at Facebook who became a whistleblower in 2021 and testified before Congress that Facebook was tuning its algorithm to put profit before public safety.
Jeremy Allen White plays Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz, a former journalist. Jeremy Strong, not Jesse Eisenberg, plays Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg and Meta have yet to say anything publicly about “The Social Reckoning.” The company declined to comment for this article.
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