Sony left no legal stone unturned for its new film about Mark Zuckerberg, lest it face the wrath of Meta’s legal team.
During an appearance on The New York Times podcast, “The Interview,” director Aaron Sorkin said getting the green light to pursue “The Social Reckoning” wasn’t a “no-brainer.”
“You also have this phenomenally powerful company with limitless resources who can sue you at the drop of a hat,” Sorkin said. “It’s my understanding that Sony did get letters from Meta, and I do not think those letters said, ‘We’re wishing you all the luck in the world.'”
Sorkin said that Sony’s legal department typically vets non-fiction films thoroughly, but for “The Social Reckoning,” the studio hired an “outside law firm” to ensure “every single thing that is presented as a fact is a fact.”
“The things that I wasn’t able to say or do are agonizing,” Sorkin said. “I will say, the irony wasn’t lost on anybody that we were doing a thorough fact-check of a movie about a company unwilling to do the same thing.”
During the interview, Sorkin said he makes a distinction between the real Zuckerberg and the character in his films.
“I’ll do my research. I’ll learn everything that I can about the reality. I’ll talk to as many people as I can, read as much as I can, but in the process of thinking about it and then in the process of writing it, it becomes the same as a fictional character for me,” Sorkin said. “It becomes a character that I’m creating.”
“The Social Reckoning” is a legal drama based on the real-life fallout from the 2021 Facebook leak.
Former Facebook employee Frances Haugen copied a trove of internal documents before leaving the company that spring. The documents showed that Facebook, now Meta, was aware that aspects of its platforms had adverse effects on its users. Haugen shared the documents with The Wall Street Journal, which published a series of high-profile articles. She later testified before a Senate subcommittee and said the company prioritized profits over user safety.
Actor Mikey Madison plays Haugen, while Jeremy Allen White plays former Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz. Jeremy Strong will portray Zuckerberg on the big screen.
“The Social Reckoning” is Sorkin’s second film about Facebook, following the 2010 box-office hit “The Social Network.” The film won many awards, including three Academy Awards.
