Coming in October with a screenplay by Aaron Sorkin, creator of The West Wing, the film is a black comedy called The Social Network. Those who have read the script say it will be brutal:
Based on Ben Mezrich’s 2009 book The Accidental Billionaires, it portrays Zuckerberg as a borderline autistic, entirely ruthless conniver. Nothing sways public opinion like a movie—and this scorcher could counteract the entire body of good press Facebook has received till now.
Sorkin’s up-tempo script adds color to what are widely known moments—true, rumored, or somewhere in between—in the Facebook legend. The first is Zuckerberg’s creation of Facemash, a Facebook forerunner that let Harvard students rank each other’s looks, after he is dumped by a girlfriend; the then sophomore compares Harvard girls to barnyard animals during an drunken all-night coding session. […]
Campus follies aren’t what will damage Facebook. It’s the much more serious accusations about Zuckerberg’s character—namely, that he stole the idea for the site from three Harvard students (twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and Divya Narendra) and later betrayed Saverin out of his ownership stake. Sorkin’s draft screenplay leaves no doubt as to who’s in the wrong.
I was persuaded to side with the Winklevoss’s when I read this very thorough article by Luke O’Brien from 02138, an independent magazine aimed at Harvard University alumni that has since gone out of business. The film reportedly informs audiences that the Winklevosses received a $65 million settlement.
Jesse Eisenberg, most recently of Zombieland, plays Zuckerberg. Justin Timberlake plays Napster co-founder Sean Parker. The film is being produced by Kevin Spacey.
RELATED: A Times Online article about the film.
You can find me @jwindish, at my Public Notebook, or email me at joe-AT-joewindish-DOT-com.