Aaron Sorkin Says He’ll Write ‘The Social Network’ Sequel Under One Condition

“What we’ve discovered is the dark side of Facebook.”

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Ten years ago, director David Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin debuted The Social Network, the Oscar-winning movie that explored the rise of Mark Zuckerberg (nervily portrayed by Jesse Eisenberg) and the founding of Facebook. With its prescient themes and moody Trent Reznor soundtrack, The Social Network became an instant classic that no less a cinematic authority than Quentin Tarantino called “hands-down” the best movie of the 2010s. 

Now, the Hollywood Reporter notes that Sorkin may return to write a sequel to the classic 2010 movie, exploring the recent controversies surrounding the world’s biggest social platform.

In the intervening years, the real-life Facebook story has added twists to its story that few could have imagined back in 2010.

The social media company has been embroiled in a number of scandals, including being accused of allowing misinformation to spread on its platform in ways that have affected democracy at home and around the world.

Sorkin and producer Scott Rudin would like to see a Social Network sequel happen, the screenwriter told MTV’s Josh Horowitz on a recent episode of the Happy.Sad.Confused podcast.

“I do want to see it. And Scott wants to see it,” said Sorkin, who remains in contact with Fincher. “People have been talking to me about it. What we’ve discovered is the dark side of Facebook.”

THR has more details about the potential sequel’s plot:

In more recent times, Sorkin has taken an interest in Roger McNamee, an early Facebook investor who published the 2019 book Zucked, which was critical of the company.

Sorkin has met with McNamee, who raised red flags to Zuckerberg and Facebook CEO Sheryl Sandberg after noticing strange political activity on the platform.

“And Sandberg and Zuckerberg seem uninterested in doing anything about it,” Sorkin continued. “This all ends up with McNamee in a Senate basement secure conference room briefing Senate Intelligence subcommittee members on how Facebook is bringing down democracy. ‘We have a huge problem here and something needs to be done about it.'”

Sorkin said he would be down to write that version of a sequel to The Social Network, but under one condition. “I will only write it if David directs it.”

Listen to the full podcast here, where Sorkin opens up about his new movie Trial of the Chicago 7 and other topics. 

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