Fifteen years after the release of “The Social Network,” Aaron Sorkin is set to both write and direct a follow-up film titled “The Social Reckoning,” which is scheduled to premiere on October 9, 2026.
Jesse Eisenberg will not return as Mark Zuckerberg; instead, the role will be taken over by Jeremy Strong, who brings a more somber and intense presence.
Jeremy Strong, most recognized for his portrayal of Kendall Roy in “Succession,” is famous for his method acting approach. This technique involves fully immersing himself in the mindset and emotions of his character—so if Strong suddenly starts training in MMA or becomes passionate about a social metaverse that fails to catch on, it’s a sign that production is about to start.
Rather than continuing directly from where “The Social Network” ended, this new film shifts focus to Frances Haugen (portrayed by Mikey Madison), the ex-Facebook employee who provided a significant cache of internal documents to a Wall Street Journal journalist (played by Jeremy Allen White) and accused the company in 2021 of putting “profits over people.”
One of the most serious disclosures from Haugen’s leak was internal evidence that the company knew Instagram was negatively impacting the mental health of teenage girls. During her testimony before Congress, Haugen stated that Facebook was “literally fanning ethnic violence” in Ethiopia, as the company lacked sufficient resources for moderating content in languages other than English. The leaked files also showed that 87% of Meta’s budget for combating misinformation was allocated to English content, even though only 9% of users speak English.
Zuckerberg and Facebook—who rebranded as Meta soon after Haugen’s disclosures—have long been bothered by the way “The Social Network” portrayed the company’s beginnings. Earlier this year, Zuckerberg mentioned in an interview that he watched the film just once, joining other Facebook staff for a group outing, knowing they would see it regardless.
“It was strange, honestly,” he remarked. “They nailed a lot of the little details about my clothes or other specifics, but the overall storyline about my motives and everything else was just totally off.”