The Social Network Follow Up Is App-ening

It’s hard to quantify the success of The Social Network. It made $224 million at the box office against a $40 million budget; it was nominated for eight Oscars, winning three; it recently placed at No. 10 on both the New York Times’ industry poll and readers poll for the best movies of the 21st century. So … let’s make another one, right? That always goes well. The Social Network’s “follow-up” is in development at Sony with Aaron Sorkin returning to direct in addition to writing the script. Below, everything we know about the sequel that’s not exactly a sequel, including the latest cast members.

The movie, which is not a direct sequel to the original film, is titled The Social Reckoning, per Variety.

The film will be based on 2021 Wall Street Journal reports “The Facebook Files,” by Horwitz. Based on leaked internal documents from Facebook, the reports claim Facebook allowed celebrities and public figures (like Donald Trump) to post content that regular users (like activists) would not be allowed to post, then did not tell its Oversight Committee. They also allege that Facebook’s response to human and drug trafficking on the site was “weak” and that Facebook knew that Instagram is “toxic” for teen girls but downplayed the negative effects publicly. The documents that the reporting was based on were gathered and disclosed by Haugen, a product manager on Facebook’s civic integrity team.

Jesse Eisenberg is not attached to return as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Instead, Succession star Jeremy Strong is taking over the part, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Hard to imagine J. Strong in a curly wig, but based on the similar cringe-o-meter ratings between “L to the OG,” from Succession, and Zuckerberg serenading his wife with “Get Low,” the casting isn’t out of nowhere. Despite his role as Zuck, Strong will not be the lead of the film. That honor will be shared between Anora’s Oscar winner Mikey Madison, who will play Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen and The Bear star Jeremy Allen White, who will play the journalist who wrote Haugen’s secrets up, Jeff Horwitz. They’ll all be joined by comedian Bill Burr in an unknown role. Maybe himself?

Additional cast members include Sinners star Wunmi Mosaku as well as the recently announced Billy Magnussen, former Mary Lincoln Betty Gilpin, Gbenga Akinnagbe, and Anna Lambe of True Detective: North Country.

The Social Reckoning will be released in a little over a year, on October 9, 2026. Get zucking ready.