Academy Award nominee Jeremy Strong is being eyed to star as Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg in Aaron Sorkin’s “The Social Network Part II,” a follow-up to his Academy Award-winning and box office hit film “The Social Network” at Sony Pictures.
Additionally, Jeremy Allen White and recent Academy Award winner Mikey Madison are also circling roles in the project.
However, insiders caution this is all still in early stages and no formal offers have been made to any of the above trio. According to The Hollywood Reporter, which first reported the news, Strong is the top choice to play Zuckerberg, replacing Jesse Eisenberg who played the Facebook CEO in the 2010 movie and passed on reprising the role.
Sorkin’s original screenplay explores the story behind the Wall Street Journal’s “The Facebook Files,” an explosive series of articles published in October 2021 that exposed the inner workings of — and multiple harms caused by — the world’s largest social network.
“The Social Network Part II” is in development with Todd Black, Peter Rice, Sorkin and Stuart Besser producing.
Released in 2010 by Sony Pictures, “The Social Network” was both a hit with audiences and critics after earning $226 million globally. Nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, the film won three, including Best Adapted Screenplay for Sorkin.
In her review of the film for TheWrap, Leah Rozen wrote: “In the same way that ‘Bonnie and Clyde,’ ‘Taxi Driver’ and ‘The Godfather’ were all provocative films, so is ‘Social Network.’ Like those earlier movies (but without the torrent of bullets and actual blood), it raises questions about who’s good, what’s right and the definition of success in America.”
