Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is the subject of another harsh film portrayal in The Social Reckoning, a new movie by Aaron Sorkin. The film opens in cinemas around the world from Wednesday, IOL reported.
The movie looks at the darkest parts of Facebook’s history. It covers the spread of hate speech, growing political division and harm to democracy.
“This is a whistleblower story. It’s a newspaper story,” Sorkin told AFP and a small group of entertainment journalists.
The film follows the real story of Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen and Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz. The two were behind the 2021 Facebook Files reports, which caused serious trouble for the company.
Anora star Mikey Madison plays Haugen and Jeremy Allen White plays Horwitz. Succession star Jeremy Strong plays Zuckerberg, who is the central figure in the drama.
Sorkin said he spent less time trying to understand Zuckerberg this time. “I put him in a single situation and have him make a single argument so that by the end of the film he is confronted with the consequences of what he’s done,” he said.
The new film does not try to explain what drives the 42-year-old Meta boss. His company now includes Instagram, WhatsApp and the struggling online world called the Metaverse.
“It can’t possibly be money. There’s nothing you can buy for $120 billion that you couldn’t buy for $119 billion,” Sorkin said.
Strong told GQ magazine that he emailed Zuckerberg. He said he had taken on the role “very seriously” and “with respect”. In the film, the Zuckerberg character says: “I know what people think of me”.
Sorkin also wrote The Social Network, the 2010 film directed by David Fincher. That movie won three Oscars. Jesse Eisenberg played a young Zuckerberg who was accused of taking the idea for Facebook from fellow students at Harvard University.
“What I had suggested back in 2010 was that he was a guy uncomfortable with the social structure of college,” Sorkin said. “And so he created his own cool kids table, which he’s now the mayor of.”
Other tech billionaires are also becoming film subjects. A biopic about OpenAI boss Sam Altman, called Artificial, was dropped by Amazon MGM Studios shortly after Amazon formed a partnership with OpenAI. Independent distributor Neon now plans to release it next year.
Elon Musk was seen as the inspiration for the main character in the comedy Mickey 17. He is also the subject of a new documentary by Oscar winner Alex Gibney.
Studio Sony Pictures had Sorkin’s script checked closely, and an outside law firm was hired for the legal review. Sorkin also reshot two scenes but denied that legal fears were the reason.
“There were some, not many notes from the lawyers and those notes did not affect (the film),” Sorkin said.
Source: this article is based on reporting by IOL. Image: IOL. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Entertainment desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Rirhandzu Baloyi writes about entertainment for Tzaneen Voice. Rirhandzu covers South African music, film, TV, streaming, awards and celebrity news, from amapiano and local soapies to Showmax and Netflix releases. Stories stick to what happened, who was involved and when fans can watch or listen.