CinemaCon was officially wired in, thanks to a first look at “The Social Reckoning” — Aaron Sorkin‘s anticipated sequel to his acclaimed 2010 drama “The Social Network.”
The annual convention of movie theater owners got an exclusive peek at the film, starring Oscar winner Mikey Madison (“Anora”), Jeremy Allen White (“The Bear,” “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere”), Bill Burr (“Old Dads,” “The King of Staten Island”) and Oscar nominee Jeremy Strong (“The Apprentice,” “Succession”).
Introducing filmmaker Sorkin, Sony Pictures executive Sanford Panitch called the sequel a “thriller” — a David vs. Goliath story that must contend with the hell Mark Zuckerberg hath wrought. The film follows events nearly two decades after tech prodigy Zuckerberg invents the world’s biggest social platform — when young engineer Frances Haugen (Madison) enlists Jeff Horwitz (White) of the Wall Street Journal to endure a dangerous whistle-blowing journey that will expose the corporation’s most guarded secrets.
“There isn’t a life that Facebook’s algorithm hasn’t touched, and that influence has shaped everything. So it’s time to say more,” Sorkin told the Vegas crowd.
A taut trailer was shown exclusively for the CinemaCon audience. It showed Madison’s Haugen breaking her silence with White’s WSJ reporter. Bound by ironclad nondisclosure agreements, Madison reveals that Facebook leadership was well aware of the platform’s harmful effects on teens — and its knowing proliferation of misinformation, which contributed to acts of political violence. Looming in the background is Strong, whose clipped reddish haircut and subtle accent went a long way in making the audience feel that Zuckerberg was not only in the shot, but a formidable opponent to those seeking the truth.
Comedian Burr plays a top Zuckerberg adviser, holding the CEO responsible for a “firehose of bad information you are injecting into the atmosphere.”
Strong’s Zuckerberg seethes back: “When I say ‘no,’ that’s the end of the debate. I’m not two years out of a dorm room anymore — take a look around.”
The film is set for wide release on Oct. 9, and is already tipped as an awards player. Sorkin is also producing the project alongside Todd Black, Peter Rice and Stuart Besser.
