Now for some news that makes complete sense: Aaron Sorkin is working on a project about the storming of the capitol on January 6, he revealed on The Town podcast. Not only will he be writing about it, but the project will act as a pseudo-sequel to The Social Network. I blame Facebook for January 6, Sorkin stated on the podcast (via The Hollywood Reporter), saying that anyone who wanted to know more is going to need to buy a movie ticket.
Well, heres a little bit more. Hes trying to write a movie, because Facebook has been, among other things, tuning its algorithm to promote the most divisive material possible. Because that is what will increase engagement. That is what will get you towhat they call inside the hallways of Facebookthe infinite scroll. Sorkin holds Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg responsible for this strategy. Theres supposed to be a constant tension at Facebook between growth and integrity. There isnt. Theres just growth. If Mark Zuckerberg woke up tomorrow morning and realized there is nothing you can buy for $120 billion that you cant buy for $119 billion dollars, So how about if I make a little bit less money? I will tune up integrity and tune down growth. Yes, you can do that by switching a one to a zero.
In a New York Times profile last year detailing Sorkins launch of the Broadway show Camelot and his recent health crisis, the writer hinted he had turned his attention to the January 6 insurrection. (If you somehow dont recall, thats when a mob of Donald Trumps supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol Building in an attempt to prevent Congress from formalizing President Joe Bidens presidential victory.) Hes been talking about a Social Network sequel even longer, remarking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast in 2020 (per THR) that he wanted to explore the dark side of Facebook, but only if David Fincher returned to direct.
A Fincher-directed, Sorkin-penned misinformation movie is certainly an idea with a lot of promise, but lets not get ahead of ourselves: sources told THR on Friday the project was early days and there was no studio partner as of yet. One thing you can count on, though, is that Sorkin will continue to call out Mark Zuckerberg for assaulting truth, as he has done for many years since winning that Social Network Oscar.
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