Facebook doesn’t look anything like it did in 2010 when “The Social Network” came out, and now neither does Mark Zuckerberg. Though some names had been floating around in the trades, Sony Pictures confirmed that “Succession” star Jeremy Strong, not Jesse Eisenberg, will portray Mark Zuckerberg in Aaron Sorkin’s follow-up to “The Social Network.”
Also announced on Friday: a title for the new film, a release date, and the cast announcement. The film is called “The Social Reckoning,” which is being written and directed this time by Sorkin. It will open in theaters on October 9, 2026. And alongside Strong, who is actually billed third among the cast list, Mikey Madison, Jeremy Allen White, and Bill Burr will all star.
It’s a helluva cast, with Madison still riding high off “Anora” and White and Strong about to share the screen in “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere,” the Bruce Springsteen biopic.
Sorkin’s original screenplay for “The Social Reckoning” tells 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.
Todd Black, Peter Rice, Sorkin and Stuart Besser are producing the film.
“The Social Reckoning” is opening the same day as a Jessica Chastain horror film called “Other Mommy” and one of the “Avatar: The Last Airbender” animated films.
Sorkin has been teasing a follow-up to “The Social Network” since 2024 and has publicly said that he blames Facebook for the January 6 insurrection on Capitol Hill. And while this screenplay is considered original, the last time we wrote about the film, he was said to be inspired by some Wall Street Journal articles called The Facebook Files that showed some of the special rules Facebook execs had and that it was aware of its toxic effect on teens and on the emotional toll it had on friends and families with differing views — and algorithms.
“The Social Network” was directed by David Fincher and written by Sorkin, and it earned a Best Picture nomination and a Best Actor nomination for Eisenberg’s calculated performance as the Facebook founder. Sorkin though won Best Adapted Screenplay at the Oscars among the film’s three statues. It made $224.9 million worldwide.
