The Social Reckoning opens 9 October with Madison and White leading Sorkin follow-up
Sony Pictures' The Social Reckoning arrives exclusively in theatres on 9 October, with Mikey Madison and Jeremy Allen White leading a whistleblower thriller about Facebook, according to Sony Pictures.
Madison plays Frances Haugen. White plays Jeff Horwitz, the former Wall Street Journal tech reporter who worked with her. Both castings were detailed by The Hollywood Reporter.
Haugen is the former Facebook product manager who in 2021 blew the whistle on the company's prioritisation of profit over public safety. Horwitz helped her bring the claims to light through The Facebook Files, reporting built on 22,000 leaked documents.
Aaron Sorkin wrote and directed the film. He also holds a producer credit, alongside Stuart Besser, listed with the industry mark p.g.a., which denotes producers who performed the role under guild rules.
The film is Sony's follow-up to The Social Network, the 2010 film written by Sorkin and directed by David Fincher. That history weighed on the new cast. Madison told The Hollywood Reporter she felt pressure taking on a story linked to that film. White said he saw the new project as more of a companion piece than a direct sequel.
Sorkin advised Madison not to try to mirror the real Haugen. Madison arrives fresh from winning the best actress Oscar for Anora.
Jeremy Strong co-stars as Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter. Strong said he reached out to Zuckerberg in connection with playing him, according to Yahoo Entertainment.
The production was made for a $30 million budget, reported by The Hollywood Reporter. That is a modest sum for a studio release built around major stars and a topical story.
For audiences, this means a cinema-only start. No streaming date has been announced on the official page. The draw is simple: two of television and film's most watched young actors, a famous writer-director returning to Silicon Valley, and a recent real-life leak at its centre.
