We have no idea how Aaron Sorkin’s “The Social Reckoning,” a sequel to “The Social Network,” is going to go. There are some skeptics surrounding the project, with most of the complaints surrounding who is not coming back.
Making a sequel to a modern classic is always risky business. On one hand, yes, you have Sorkin, who wrote “The Social Network,” back penning the sequel, and Jeff Cronenweth is also returning as DP. However, David Fincher, who brought his usual obsessive direction to the 2010 film, is being replaced by Sorkin himself. You also have Jeremy Strong replacing Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg.
Now comes the news that Alexander Desplat will score the follow-up, which means Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross aren’t coming back.
Some of Desplat’s best-known works include the music for “Birth,” “The Tree of Life,” “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” and “The Shape of Water.” He also composed the score for two films last year, Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” and Wes Anderson’s “The Phoenician Scheme”; the latter was his seventh collaboration with Anderson.
As for Cronenweth, he is a Fincher alum, although he hasn’t worked with him since 2014’s “Gone Girl.” Fincher’s very recognizable visual palette began when he hired Cronenweth as cinematographer for “Fight Club.” The pair later collaborated on “The Social Network,” “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” and “Gone Girl.”
Sony Pictures describes “The Social Reckoning” as a “companion piece” to 2010’s “The Social Network.” As mentioned, Strong will step into the role of Mark Zuckerberg, previously played by Jesse Eisenberg, while the story will focus on Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison), the whistleblower whose leaks to The Wall Street Journal exposed numerous issues at Facebook. Notably, Haugen has argued that “Facebook played a role in enabling the events of January 6.”
Sorkin’s “The Social Reckoning” is set to hit theaters on October 9, 2026.