> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://spyglass.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # The Box Office Reckoning - URL: https://spyglass.org/the-box-office-reckoning/ - Published: 2026-10-13T09:34:35.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-13T09:39:26.000Z - Description: No one wants to see 'The Social Reckoning' – at least not in theaters... - Author: M.G. Siegler - Tags: movie theaters, film, facebook, meta, mark zuckerberg, aaron sorkin, tech, openai 🔗 Why ‘Social Reckoning’ Went Silent as More Tech Movies Face Box Office Test • THR On one hand, you can see why Sony would want to go back to the Facebook well/wall. *The Social Network* opened with $22M, won three Oscars and countless other awards on its way to pulling in $224M at the global box office. And that was [in 2010 numbers](https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/11/aaron-sorkins-social-reckoning-is-off-to-a-weak-start/?ref=spyglass.org). Adjusted for 2026 dollars, the box office looks more like $350M. Unfortunately, *The Social Reckoning* is no *Social Network*: > [Aaron Sorkin](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t/aaron-sorkin/?ref=spyglass.org)‘s follow-up to director David Fincher’s acclaimed 2010 hit [*The Social Network*](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t/social-network/?ref=spyglass.org), for which Sorkin nabbed the Oscar for adapted screenplay, grossed a [disappointing $5.5 million](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/other-mommy-box-office-social-reckoning-opening-1236726908/?ref=spyglass.org) domestically, below even the soft initial projections that distributor Sony Pictures had set for the wide release of the $30 million-budgeted film. While the 2010 movie starred Jesse Eisenberg as Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg in the story of the platform’s early days, *The Social Reckoning* replaced Eisenberg with Jeremy Strong as the CEO. Mikey Madison stars as a Facebook staffer who teams up with a journalist (Jeremy Allen White) to expose dark truths. $5.5M. It's not [a *Digger*\-level disaster](https://spyglass.org/digger-box-office-bomb/), but only because Sony wisely cut the already fairly small budget of $40M for the first film (and again, that was in 2010 money). The reality here was that this movie was never likely to be a big performer at the box office. From the title to [the trailer](https://spyglass.org/inklings-social-reckoning-apples-models-on-nvidia-chips-no-siri-ai-for-eu-openais-ipo/),[1](#one) it always just sort of felt like this was set up to be re-heated leftovers. To be fair, the reviews have been a bit more generous than [I would have guessed](https://spyglass.org/you-can-see-everything-teaser/#two) from that trailer, but they're [still middling](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-social-reckoning/?ref=spyglass.org) at best – certainly not the [glowing reviews](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-social-network/?ref=spyglass.org) the first film got. How much of that can be chalked up to Sorkin directing this one versus just writing it (which which he won one of those Oscars)? Probably a decent amount. But more so it would seem that his vendetta [against](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/aaron-sorkin-facebook-social-reckoning-zuckerberg-1236672156/?ref=spyglass.org) Facebook/Meta in recent years (following the success of the first film) was always going to make this follow-up too preachy in a very Sorkin-style. That's fine, it's art after all. But again, it's also not a huge surprise no one really wants to see that movie – [at least not in theaters](https://spyglass.org/thoughts-on-openais-potential-comeback-hollywoods-movie-tickets-sold-disaster/). This clearly – *clearly* – should have been a movie that went right to streaming. That's easy to say in hindsight, of course. But it would have been easy to say [before that too](https://spyglass.org/big-tech-hollywood-releases/). In the 16 years since the first film, the world has changed a lot. Yes, Meta is still in court over the various social disasters that Facebook and later Instagram wrought – [and they're having to settle those cases](https://spyglass.org/metas-poke-on-the-wrist/) for billions lest they lose and potentially have to pay *trillions*. But that just doesn't feel like a movie anyone wants to watch and relive. That makes *Artificial* – aka, the OpenAI movie – far more of a successor to *The Social Network*, even if only spiritually. And that mixed with the [thus far glowing reviews](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/artificial%5F2026?ref=spyglass.org) should lead to far more box office (and perhaps awards) success. There was some concern when [Amazon dumped the already-completed film](https://spyglass.org/amazon-kills-openai-movie/) that it was a signal that it wasn't any good, but it may have actually been the opposite signal: it was *too good*. And that was a problem for Amazon's fresh $50B investment into the subject of the movie... Anyway, a more interesting test for [the Tech Villain anthology](https://spyglass.org/tech-hollywood-villain/) hitting theaters this Fall will be *You Can See Everything* and *Musk* – because the former is 3 hours long and the latter *4 hours*. Those lengths typically don't point to huge box offices – *The Odyssey* not withstanding, though *You Can See Everything* is actually *longer*, yes, longer than one of the most famous stories about length of time – but both also have very strong reviews and [early buzz](https://spyglass.org/you-can-see-everything-teaser/). We'll see. Or we won't! 👇 ****Previously, on** ***Spyglass** **...** [Tech CEOs: Thou Art a VillainThis Fall, Hollywood is coming at tech with a vengeance…![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/af/ca/afcaa655-46e2-45b8-889a-2881de5cce69/content/images/icon/Spyglass-Rings-----Multi-7d14a163-90dc-4c23-9a60-35292364e567.png)SpyglassM.G. Siegler![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/af/ca/afcaa655-46e2-45b8-889a-2881de5cce69/content/images/thumbnail/Haunted-Gothic-Candlelit-Dinner-Party-965aa30e-d443-4e44-8598-6b85ba68e1ae.png)](https://spyglass.org/tech-hollywood-villain/) [You Cannot Unsee ‘You Can See Everything’What did I just watch?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/af/ca/afcaa655-46e2-45b8-889a-2881de5cce69/content/images/icon/Spyglass-Rings-----Multi-fd6dde78-99e3-4089-ab21-8699313526df.png)SpyglassM.G. Siegler![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/af/ca/afcaa655-46e2-45b8-889a-2881de5cce69/content/images/thumbnail/Screenshot-2026-09-07-at-10.54.59---PM-1-d0d7a076-b280-4cbe-bad9-ccc06d16fe79.png)](https://spyglass.org/you-can-see-everything-teaser/) [Amazon MeddlesThoughts on Amazon MGM bailing on their OpenAI movie…![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/af/ca/afcaa655-46e2-45b8-889a-2881de5cce69/content/images/icon/Spyglass-Rings-----Multi-2fd5ee5b-1537-484c-83c4-d7a69958e7fc.png)SpyglassM.G. Siegler![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/af/ca/afcaa655-46e2-45b8-889a-2881de5cce69/content/images/thumbnail/ChatGPT-Image-Jun-21--2026--08_59_47-PM-954187ae-855a-4cc8-8348-878aa1654b94.png)](https://spyglass.org/amazon-kills-openai-movie/) --- 1 *The Social Reckoning*? Come on, either go all-in with a title like *The Social Nightmare* or *The Social Disaster* or do something more clever – *The Antisocial Network*... This title just sounds generic. [↩](#)