New Delhi: Almost a decade and a half later, filmmaker Aaron Sorkin is returning with another film centred around Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. While the buzz around the upcoming The Social Reckoning is already palpable, fans were quick to question why Jesse Eisenberg, who played Zuckerberg in The Social Network, is absent from its sequel. Zuckerberg will now be played by The Apprentice actor Jeremy Strong.
Eisenberg told Variety that it was an honour working with Sorkin, calling him “articulate, charming and bright.” He added that they talked about the movie for several days.
“The way Aaron speaks, he speaks so wonderfully, as he writes, that, in a way, if you’re not going to do something with him, it feels almost like you’re letting down America,” Eisenberg said.
The actor shared that he told Sorkin he is moving in a different direction in his life.
“I don’t want to be associated with that character, but all of my reasons for not wanting to do the movie have nothing to do with how wonderful the movie is, and will be, and I’m sure it is already,” he added.
Not only has Eisenberg spoken about turning down the role, but earlier in June, Sorkin also revealed that he spent three days trying to convince him to reprise it. He said the reason was simple: Eisenberg doesn’t want to be conflated with Mark Zuckerberg anymore. Sorkin recalled an incident:
“He doesn’t like kids coming up to him in airports with business cards that say, ‘I’m CEO, ****,’ for him to sign,” Sorkin said to Vanity Fair.
While the first film followed Zuckerberg’s journey from ideating Facebook to establishing it as the world’s biggest social media platform, the sequel will focus on the controversies that followed, especially when the company faced several allegations over privacy and platform safety.
The film will follow whistleblower Frances Haugen, played by Mikey Madison, and The Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz, played by Jeremy Allen White, as they expose the platform’s secrets in 2021. Their reporting revealed that Facebook’s own internal research had documented the platform’s negative impact on teenagers’ mental health and its role in the spread of misinformation.
The Social Reckoning is set to release on 9 October.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)