Sequels, sequels, sequels; if there’s one thing you can count on in today’s film industry, it’s sequels. The idea of being able to build off of a currently existing intellectual property is far more attractive to production studios as opposed to something new. Heck, there’s a new “28 Days Later” trilogy coming. But we did not have a follow-up to Aaron Sorkin‘s 2010’s “The Social Network” on our film sequel bingo card, nor it being about the January 6th insurrection.
In case the film wasn’t your cup of tea back in the day, “The Social Network” was about the development and founding of Facebook, based on a book by Ben Mezrich. That book was turned into a screenplay by Sorkin. In addition to being a box-office success, the film garnered Academy Award wins for Sorkin, director David Fincher, and composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails.
If you’re familiar with Sorkin’s work including “The Newsroom” and “The West Wing,” then you’re likely aware he leans heavily to the political left. The events of the January 6th insurrection did not sit well with him, understandably. More specifically, Sorkin partly blames Facebook for the spread of misinformation and extremely politically divisive material.
He espoused these feelings in a recent podcast, and follow-up reports indicate he will channel these feelings into a new screenplay. At the moment, the project is still in its early stages, and doesn’t have a studio attached yet.
“Look, yeah, I’ll be writing about this,” Sorkin said. “I blame Facebook for January 6th.”
Sorkin made it very clear he wants Fincher to direct. So even if this screenplay isn’t directly a “sequel,” it’s definitely at least a spiritual successor, which is still more than any of us would have expected.
We look forward to providing more updates in the future. After all, you don’t get to write a 400 word story about Aaron Sorkin without making a few updates. …That’s a reference to the marketing posters for “The Social Network”… but if you didn’t see them then that… well go look up one of the posters and you’ll understand.
