After 16 Years, The Most Important Movie Of Our Time Keeps Getting Better

While The Social Network always seemed like something special, the David Fincher movie has only proven its importance in the years since its original release. The Social Network was released in 2010. Chronicling the rise of the social networking site Facebook and the behind-the-scenes battles that went into its construction, director David Fincher’s movie was acclaimed upon release.

While The Social Network’s cast went on to become blockbuster stars, the movie also elevated the career of its already-impressive director. While Fincher’s most recent movie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, had done well at the box office and been liked by critics, its predecessors weren’t so lucky. 2007’s Zodiac was critically acclaimed, but underperformed financially.

In contrast, 2002’s Panic Room fared well at the box office, but was seen as an inessential effort by reviewers. 1999’s Fight Club is a cult classic now, but Fincher’s prescient satire was infamously ignored by audiences upon release and only became a success years after its box office failure.

In contrast, The Social Network was an unambiguous critical and commercial success upon release, earning $224 million on a budget of only $40 million. Fincher’s movie was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor at the Oscars, where The Social Network won Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Score.

In the years since its release, The Social Network has inspired a slew of movies and TV shows that chronicled the ups and downs of online entrepreneurs and their fortunes. 2022’s Super Pumped, the same year’s WeCrashed, 2025’s Swiped, 2023's Dumb Money, and even 2022’s Amanda Seyfried vehicle The Dropout all owe their core inspiration to The Social Network’s setup.

While Fincher’s movie functions as a biopic of Facebook’s co-founders Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin, The Social Network is also a chronicle of the period when social media changed the world. Arriving in 2010, the movie straddles the time before and after social media was a constant presence in the lives of its audience.

By the time The Social Network was released, Facebook had over 500 million users. By the time The Social Network’s planned sequel was announced in 2025, that number had ballooned to an almost inconceivable three billion. The movie’s story of a ruthless, amoral industry that prioritizes growth over social good has only grown more relevant.

The Social Network manages the impressive feat of making website coding look tense and dramatic, as well as turning the world of social media site management into a glitzy, glamorous world of betrayal and backstabbing. As social media sites have grown in their power and influence, the movie’s plot only feels more prescient with each passing year.

Since 2010, users have handed over immeasurable amounts of data to these sites, making them among the most powerful corporations to ever exist. The long-term impacts of social media on culture, society, and politics are almost impossible to measure, and The Social Network captured a glimpse of this when Facebook’s own creators admit that they could never have imagined its ubiquity.

A quick glance at recent headlines from the world of tech proves that the deceit and double-crossing found in The Social Network, as well as the unimaginable sums of money its main characters fight over, are still the defining features of the social media world. Sites only grow bigger, more powerful, and richer as their creators are continuously hauled into court.

While The Social Network recasting Mark Zuckerberg met mixed reactions when the news was announced, it is not surprising that the movie is receiving a sequel in 2026. Written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, who penned the first film, The Social Reckoning is set to be released on October 6, 2026.

The Social Reckoning will star Anora Oscar winner Mikey Madison as Frances Haugen, the whistleblower who disclosed Facebook’s internal communications to the Wall Street Journal and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The movie focuses on Haugen’s 2021 leak, taking inspiration from the Wall Street Journal's 2021 podcast series The Facebook Files.

Zuckerberg will be played by Succession’s Jeremy Strong, who will be reunited with Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere star Jeremy Allen White. White plays Jeff Horwitz, while Sinners star Wunmi Mosaku, Betty Gilpin, and Billy Magnussen round out the starry cast. The Social Reckoning will struggle to live up to its predecessor, not least due to Sorkin’s relative inexperience.

Sorkin is one of the most successful screenwriters of his generation, having penned A Few Good Men and The American President as well as much of The West Wing. That said, he is less experienced as a director, with only three movies to his name. Of these, Molly’s Game and The Trial of the Chicago 7 were well received.

That said, it remains to be seen whether The Social Reckoning can live up to Fincher’s 2010 hit. The Social Network captured a unique moment in online history, and Fincher’s movie has since proven shockingly prescient, so it would be tough for any sequel to recreate its impact.