David Fincher’s 2010 film The Social Network ends with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) refreshing the friend request of an ex-girlfriend, a pathetic and modern attempt at a peace offering as the movie tracks him through two contentious lawsuits. There’s never been a need or want for a sequel, if only because we know what Zuckerberg has been up to in recent years: getting buff, wearing a gold chain, and appearing at Donald Trump’s inauguration. Still, screenwriter Aaron Sorkin has been threatening a sequel to the film since fall of 2020, when he was clearly doing some kind of pandemic-related writing project that none of us thought would go anywhere.
On June 25, Deadline reported that Sorkin will officially write and direct a “follow-up” to the original film and that it’s subtitled “Part Two,” but also that it’s “not a sequel.” If someone figures out what that means, let us know. Sorkin’s not-sequel will focus on The Wall Street Journal’s “Facebook Files,” which exposed how the social-media platform has done irreparable damage to minors and spread misinformation worldwide. While Deadline said sources claim that this is “not a January 6 film,” The Town’s Matt Belloni, uh, said Sorkin told him otherwise. Gotcha: so an Aaron Sorkin–written and –directed The Social Network sequel about January 6. Anything else? It would be fun if he managed to wrangle the film’s original stars back. I don’t think Eduardo Saverin, played by Andrew Garfield, has had much of a role in Facebook since storming through those glass doors going “Mark!!!,” but Eisenberg could be at just the right career inflection point to hop back into character. It would admittedly be fun to see Eisenberg go through the physical transformation that Zuckerberg has undergone in real life. And maybe the exiled Armie Hammer could return as the Winklevoss twins? And Rashida Jones could come back as, uh, the woman lawyer? The sky is the limit, the possibilities are endless. Only one thing is certain: Whoever plays Zuckerberg really needs the chain.