Aaron Sorkin Planning ‘Spiritual Sequel’ to ‘The Social Network’

The filmmaker, who won an Oscar for writing ‘The Social Network’, blames the social media site for January 6 via its algorithm-driving pernicious influence.

(L to R) Andrew Garfield and Jesse Eisenberg in 'The Social Network'. Photo: Sony Pictures Releasing.

Preview:

Aaron Sorkin is writing a script about Facebook’s dangerous influence.
He was inspired by the January 6 incident.
The project is still at an early stage.

Given that Aaron Sorkin won a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for turning Ben Mezrich’s book ‘The Accidental Billionaires’ into the story of Facebook’s birth and complicated, contested early days, it seems only natural that he might be the person to tackle a story about its power and influence in the current era.

And from the sounds of it, that’s just what the creator of TV classic ‘The West Wing’ is now working on, albeit independent of any studio commission. And it appears he’s very suspicious of the site’s motives and impact.

The Social Network

"You don't get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies."

PG-132 hr 1 minOct 1st, 2010

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Watch The Social Network Online

What is Aaron Sorkin looking at for a potential new Facebook movie?

Aaron Sorkin attends the Academy’s 7th Annual Governors Awards in The Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, CA, on Saturday, November 14, 2015. Credit/Provider: Matt Petit / ©A.M.P.A.S. Copyright: ©A.M.P.A.S.

Talking on a live edition of ‘The Town’ Podcast, Sorkin announced that his concern regarding how Facebook’s system has poisoned politics on the personal and national level led him to start work on a new script, which while not a direct sequel to ‘The Social Network’, would follow up on the low-key fears that were subtextual in the original.

Here’s what Sorkin told hosts Matthew Belloni and Peter Hamby:

“Look, yeah, I’ll be writing about this. I blame Facebook for January 6. 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.”

Oh, and asked what exactly he’d be focused on, he told the audience that they’d have to buy a movie ticket to find that out.

Who could direct a ‘Social Network’ follow-up?

Jesse Eisenberg in 'The Social Network'. Photo: Sony Pictures Releasing.

David Fincher, of course, directed ‘The Social Network’ to great success, and Sorkin has said in the past that any future Facebook-associated project would be one he’d only consider if the ‘Se7en’ and ‘Fight Club’ filmmaker was involved.

This is what he told the ‘Happy Sad Confused’ podcast in 2020:

“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.”

Yet in recent years, Sorkin himself has stepped up to direct his scripts, with movies including ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ and ‘Being the Ricardos’.

Right now, this exists only as a work-in-progress script by Sorkin, so we’ll see whether he gets to the point where he wants to take it out and attract some interest.

Aaron Sorkin, Oscar®-nominee for Adapted Screenplay, arrives for the 84th Annual Academy Awards® from Hollywood, CA February 26, 2012. Credit/Provider: Todd Wawrychuk / ©A.M.P.A.S. Copyright: ©A.M.P.A.S.