Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin believes he dug up enough dirt on Facebook to write a sequel for biographical drama, The Social Network — a film tracking Mark Zuckerberg’s creation of Facebook and the trials he faces thereafter. The Social Network was directed by David Fincher and released in 2010. It was nominated for eight Oscars and reined in $240 million globally. Per A.P., a producer, Scott Rudin, communicated he is on board for the sequel in an email to Sorkin.
The Social Network, featuring Jesse Eisenberg as Zuckerberg in an Oscar-worthy performance, concluded with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg shelling out $65 million to settle a lawsuit with the Winklevoss brothers who accused Zuckerberg of stealing their idea for Facebook. While Sorkin admits he knew more about Facebook in 2005, he thinks he can write about Facebook’s recent scandals, namely the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scandal.
At the time, dozens of people deleted their Facebook accounts and fumed over the impermissible sharing of their personal information. And if Sorkin was paying any attention throughout 2018, he definitely has a repertoire of juicy content he can incorporate into his script, including but not limited to, Russian trolls on Facebook discovered to have influenced Americans before the 2016 election, Zuckerberg’s testimony to Congress, and a major hacking of billions of Facebook accounts.
No one from the original cast of The Social Network expressed interest to Sorkin in returning for the sequel. But as Sorkin waits and consolidates the latest challenges Zuckerberg overcame into a story for The Social Network sequel, there is a good chance game-changing actors will step up to the plate.