While Aaron Sorkin is revisiting the godfather of Facebook, Jesse Eisenberg has moved on from playing Mark Zuckerberg after more than 15 years.
Following their collaboration on The Social Network (2010), which recounted Zuckerberg’s creation of the social platform, Sorkin admitted he tried for three days to get Eisenberg to reprise his Oscar-nominated performance in The Social Reckoning, which premieres Oct. 9 in theaters.
“I felt like it belonged to him, and he was certainly battle-tested,” he told Vanity Fair of Eisenberg.
“He simply did not want to be conflated with Mark Zuckerberg anymore, that he has his problems with the guy,” added Sorkin. “He doesn’t like kids coming up to him in airports with business cards that say ‘I’m CEO, bitch’ for him to sign.”
Fortunately for Sorkin, who first told Eisenberg he had a script for the sequel at 2025 Vanity Fair Oscar Party, he met Jeremy Strong at the same event, who told the Oscar-winning screenwriter that he’d be interested in playing Zuckerberg if Eisenberg wasn’t.
Strong was attached to the role in July 2025, and Sorkin noted he just “followed his lead” in making the sequel. “He showed up on his first day, and when he said ‘good morning’ to me, he was already talking like Mark,” said Sorkin.
In The Social Reckoning, Facebook engineer Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison) goes to Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White) with the social media platform’s most guarded secrets. Bill Burr, Wunmi Mosaku, Billy Magnussen and Betty Gilpin also star.
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