Aaron Sorkin, the Oscar-winning screenwriter, is planning to continue the story of one of his acclaimed screenplays, The Social Network. The Social Network is a biographical film helmed by David Fincher. It was based on the 2009 book The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich. It portrays the founding of the social networking website Facebook. During a live-from-D.C. edition of The Town podcast, Sorkin was asked how Facebook and social media have influenced democracy in the years since his 2010 hit. He said, “Look, yeah, I’ll be writing about this. I blame Facebook for January 6.”
When the screenwriter was asked for his reason to blame a social media company for a pro-Donald Trump mob storming the U.S. Capitol, Sorkin replied, “You’re going to need to buy a movie ticket.”
Will there be a sequel to The Social Network soon?
The Social Network is one of those films from Aaron Sorkin’s screenwriting career that rose him to prominence. Directed by David Fincher, the film won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. But the big question is, will there be a The Social Network 2? During the same podcast, following his aforementioned statement, Sorkin was asked if he was writing about Jan 6, specifically as a movie. He replied, “I’m trying. Facebook has been, among other things, tuning its algorithm to promote the most divisive material possible. Because that is what will increase engagement.
That is what will get you to — what they call inside the hallways of Facebook — ‘the infinite scroll’ … There’s supposed to be a constant tension at Facebook between growth and integrity. There isn’t. There’s just growth. If Mark Zuckerberg woke up tomorrow morning and realized there is nothing you can buy for $120 billion that you can’t buy for $119 billion dollars, ‘So how about if I make a little bit less money? I will tune up integrity and tune down growth.’ Yes, you can do that by switching a one to a zero.”
When we talk specifically about social media, it indeed divides people into two factions. While social media gives us a platform to express our thoughts, a paradox is created where if there is freedom of speech, there will also be hate speech. Sorkin’s ideation about social media may resonate with viewers and align with the theme of his upcoming project.
While an official statement is yet to come from Sorkin regarding the project, sources close to him confirmed on Friday that the writer is working on a Social Network-adjacent screenplay, but emphasized the project is early days and there is no studio partner as of yet.
Sorkin was previously working on a Jan 6 script, but it never got concluded. Since the script came halfway, it is suspected that some elements from that effort will find their way into the new script. Precisely stated, both these projects are actually different. While one is active, the other is dormant. However, considering Sorkin’s comments, these two different projects are often confused to be the same.
Sorkin has previously stated he hoped to eventually write a Social Network sequel about “the dark side” of Facebook, especially if David Fincher would return to direct. In 2021, he told THR, “I think what has been going on with Facebook these last few years is a story very much worth telling, and there is a way to tell it as a follow-up to The Social Network, and that’s as much as I know.” Earlier in 2020, the writer told the Happy Sad Confused podcast: “People have been talking to me about [a sequel] because of what we’ve discovered is the dark side of Facebook. Do I want to write that movie? Yeah, I do. I will only write it if [David Fincher] directs it. If Billy Wilder came back from the grave and said he wanted to direct it, I’d say I’d only do it with David.”
The Social Network is available to stream on Netflix.
