“The Social Network” has increasingly been on the public consciousness of late and Aaron Sorkin is doing his part to keep it that way.
The acclaimed screenwriter appeared as a guest on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast this week and when asked about his thoughts on penning a sequel to the 2010 hit–for which he won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay–Sorkin sounded rather motivated in seeing it come to fruition.
“I do want to see it,” said Sorkin. “And [producer Scott Rudin] wants to see it. People have been talking to me about it. What we’ve discovered is the dark side of Facebook.”
However, Sorkin also added one specific caveat: “I will only write it if David [Fincher] directs it.”
For his part, Fincher has been increasingly selective with his projects in recent years and only once has directed a film as part of an installment, 1992’s “Alien 3.” He’s spent the previous three years at the helm of the lauded Netflix television psychological crime thriller “Mindhunter,” directing seven episodes and serving as executive director on all nineteen. His next movie, “Mank,” is due to be released this December. “Mank” represents Fincher’s first time directing a feature film since 2014’s “Gone Girl,” which earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Director.
Yet it’s “The Social Network” that continues to make the most headlines lately. The film is celebrating its 10-year anniversary, with countless retrospectives and essays revisiting the cultural impact of the heralded drama. It’s also being looked at through a sharper lens as the 2020 presidential election looms, with the world having a better understanding of the influence and impact that a social media company such as Facebook can have on both politics and society at large.
Sorkin has already spoken with Roger McNamee, an early Facebook investor and author of the book “Zucked” that is notable for its sharp criticism of the social media company. McNamee has also been on the forefront of people who believe that Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook CEO Sheryl Sandberg have been complicit in the ongoing manipulation of the platform by various political agents and nefarious actors.
“And Sandberg and Zuckerberg seem uninterested in doing anything about it,” Sorkin explained. “This all ends up with McNamee in a Senate basement secure conference room briefing Senate Intelligence subcommittee members on how Facebook is bringing down democracy. ‘We have a huge problem here and something needs to be done about it.’”
