After years of vague teases and sidesteps, Aaron Sorkin is set to write and direct “The Social Network Part 2.”
Sources tell Deadline that Sorkin is officially moving forward with a follow-up to David Fincher’s 2010 film. Though currently being referred to as Part II, the new project is not a traditional sequel, but rather a companion piece that explores the darker legacy of Facebook.
Sorkin’s new script, said to be completed, centers on the fallout covered in The Facebook Files, a series of reports published by The Wall Street Journal in 2021. The articles exposed internal company documents that revealed Facebook’s own awareness of the harm its platform was causing — particularly to teens, developing countries, and the broader global information ecosystem.
While the original ‘Social Network’ chronicled the rise of Mark Zuckerberg and the creation of Facebook in the dorms of Harvard, this new film appears to be tackling what happened after the empire was built, and the effect it has had on all of us.
Deadline’s insiders stress that this won’t be a “January 6 movie” per se, but last year, Sorkin himself told Puck’s Matt Belloni that the sequel would follow the rise of the online misinformation-for-profit that may have led to the events at the capital. He added, “I blame Facebook for January 6.”
Since its release, Sorkin has noted on several occasions his interest in doing a follow-up, but he couldn’t find the right angle. Following the events of January 6, 2020, when the U.S. Capitol was attacked, Sorkin found new inspiration saying in an interview last year that he believed Facebook played a part.
Sorkin, who won the Oscar for his screenplay for the 2010 original, will direct this one himself — a shift from Fincher’s meticulous visual style. Since then, Sorkin has directed three films (“Molly’s Game,” “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” “Being the Ricardos”).
Production hasn’t been dated yet, but with the script locked, the next step is casting. The original film helped launch Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield. As for Eisenberg himself, who earned an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Zuckerberg, there’s no confirmation yet on whether he’ll return. But let’s be honest: it’s hard to imagine a movie about Facebook without Mark Zuckerberg in it.
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