The Social Reckoning opens in U.S. theaters on October 9. Aaron Sorkin wrote and directed the film, a follow-up to his Oscar-winning screenplay for The Social Network. It tells the true story of Frances Haugen, the Facebook engineer who turned whistleblower in 2021, and Jeff Horwitz, the Wall Street Journal reporter whose coverage exposed the company's internal research.
Mikey Madison plays Haugen. Jeremy Allen White plays Horwitz. Jeremy Strong plays Mark Zuckerberg.
That last casting decision came only after Jesse Eisenberg, who played Zuckerberg in the original film, declined to return. In a new interview with Deadline, Sorkin said it "never occurred" to him Eisenberg would say no. Sorkin described the film's paycheck as a "disincentive" for Eisenberg at his current level, and said the actor "simply did not want to be conflated with Mark Zuckerberg anymore." According to Sorkin, Eisenberg "has his problems with the guy." Eisenberg told Sorkin their conversations brought him "closer to changing my mind than I thought you were going to" before he ultimately declined.
Strong approached the role as a clean break. He stated that his interpretation of Zuckerberg "has nothing to do with what I'm going to do" compared to Eisenberg's.
The film world-premiered September 29 at the Curzon Mayfair Cinema in London. Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. Runtime: 112 minutes. Cinematography by Jeff Cronenweth. Score by Alexandre Desplat.