Jeremy Strong to Play Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network II

According to Cinemadrame News Agency, Jeremy Strong is Aaron Sorkin’s top choice to play Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network Part II. According to Deadline, the role has not yet been officially offered to the Succession star, but he is the filmmakers’ first pick. The Hollywood Reporter writes that Jesse Eisenberg, who portrayed Zuckerberg in the first film, has declined Sorkin’s offer to return.

Last night it was reported that Oscar-winner Mikey Madison (Anora) and Emmy-winner Jeremy Allen White (The Bear) are in talks to join the film, set to play whistleblower Frances Haugen and former Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz, respectively.

In June, it was reported that Sorkin would direct and write the sequel, which will cover additional chapters in the stories of Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg. Sorkin is also producing the project alongside Todd Black, Peter Rice, and Stuart Besser.

Although the film is titled The Social Network Part II, it will not be a direct sequel to the first installment, which depicted Facebook’s origins and Mark Zuckerberg’s rise to fame. Instead, Sorkin’s new screenplay will focus on the series of exposés known as “The Facebook Files,” written by Jeff Horwitz for The Wall Street Journal and published in October 2021, which revealed how the world’s largest social network operates.

The first Social Network film, directed by David Fincher, was released in 2010 and grossed $226 million worldwide. It was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won three, including Best Adapted Screenplay for Sorkin.

Last year, Jeremy Strong appeared in Ali Abbasi’s The Apprentice as Roy Cohn, Donald Trump’s attorney. This year, he stars in the biopic Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, in which Jeremy Allen White plays Bruce Springsteen and Strong plays producer Jon Landau.