A sequel to David Fincher’s The Social Network wasn’t always the most obvious thing, just as a movie about the origins of Facebook wasn’t obviously a good idea in the first place. Released in 2010, the film was not only a massive $224M hit, but it won three Oscars, was generally considered one of the best movies of that year, and was led an iconic performance by Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg. Not having Eisenberg return for Aaron Sorkin’s follow-up, The Social Reckoning, was a big blow to overcome, but in the first teaser we can see how Jeremy Strong looks in the role.
Written and directed by Sorkin, The Social Reckoning is seen as a companion to The Social Network, dealing with the fallout of decisions made by Zuckerberg, revealed in leaked documents that led to the Wall Street Journal’s exposé in 2021.
The film stars Strong as Zuckerberg, with Oscar winner Mikey Madison as whistleblower Frances Haugen, and Jeremy Allen White as Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz.
Also in the cast are Wunmi Mosaku, Betty Gilpin, Billy Magnussen, Bill Burr, Gbenga Akinnagbe, and Anna Lambe.
Strong has clearly undergone an interesting transformation, especially the hair, to look more like Zuckerberg. It’s even more radical than what he went through to become Roy Cohn in The Apprentice. I’m not 100% sure that it works, but then I felt the same way about Eisenberg and look how that worked out.
SYNOPSIS: A companion piece to the hit film The Social Network, Sorkin’s original screenplay is based on the events that gave rise to the Wall Street Journal’s shocking exposé The Facebook Files. The film is inspired by the true story of how Frances Haugen (Madison), a young Facebook engineer, enlists the help of Jeff Horwitz (White), a Wall Street Journal reporter, to go on a dangerous journey that ends up blowing the whistle on the social network’s most guarded secrets.
Sony Pictures will release The Social Reckoning in theaters on October 9th.
