The Social Network 2: Comedian Bill Burr in talks for a fictional role

The Social Network 2 is moving forward at Sony Pictures, with Aaron Sorkin back as writer and director. The story does not return to the college dorms or the launch of a new site, but to the years after, when Facebook had already grown too big to manage.

It leans on The Facebook Files, the Wall Street Journal work by Jeff Horwitz, showing how the company understood the risks for younger users, how false stories spread unchecked, and how all of that connected to moments like the January 6 attack on the Capitol. The change of source alone points to a new tone: the first film showed ambition and invention, while the sequel points to responsibility and consequences.

The 2010 release won Sorkin an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, with David Fincher’s direction giving the story a precise, almost clinical edge. The Social Network 2 is expected to feel different, less about lawsuits between classmates and more about the cost of choices made at the top of a global company.

One detail has already caught attention: comedian Bill Burr is in talks to join the cast. His role is described as fictional or composite, unlike the other characters based on real people, which places him in a unique position within the story and suggests the film may use him as a way to expand beyond direct portrayals.

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A return with a new focus

The first movie told the story of a network being born, and how it rewired the way people connect. The Social Network 2, tied to The Facebook Files, seems to drift toward another path. Whistleblowers step in, reporters dig, and executives face what their own choices created. The setting is no longer a college dorm but the wide reach of a company shaping how people move and act online.

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Cast members in place

Casting for The Social Network 2 has already started to shape the production. Jeremy Allen White has been confirmed as Jeff Horwitz, the journalist behind the reporting. Mikey Madison will play Frances Haugen, the former engineer who brought internal documents to light. Jeremy Strong is currently in talks to portray Mark Zuckerberg. His deal has not been finalized yet, but his possible addition links the project to another actor known for playing figures of power.

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Bill Burr in focus in The Social Network 2

Bill Burr’s negotiation stands out because he is not tied to one real-life person. The character has been described as fictional or blended, giving Sorkin a way to build a presence that comments on the story rather than documenting it directly.

Bill Burr’s career has stretched from stand-up stages to film and television. He popped up in Breaking Bad, later in The Mandalorian, and then again in The King of Staten Island. A mix of short appearances, but each one memorable in its own way. By 2023, Bill Burr shifted gears, directing and fronting Old Dads.

That film climbed fast, sitting at number one worldwide on Netflix for two weeks straight and pulling 29.6 million views in the first ten days. Numbers like that remind how he can stretch, comedy on one side, heavier beats on the other. In The Social Network 2, the part being discussed feels different, almost a counterweight to the rest of the cast, because he is not locked to any single real-life name.

Behind the camera

Sorkin is stepping back into the director’s chair, returning to a world he first shaped more than ten years ago with The Social Network 2. The plan points to Vancouver as the place where cameras will roll later this year, though no firm start date has been locked in. The names behind the production include Todd Black, Peter Rice, Stuart Besser, and Sorkin himself. Put together, that team gives the film the weight of past awards and the pull of a subject that still feels urgent now.

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What the story might deliver

If The Social Network was about building something new, The Social Network 2 leans into the costs of that creation. The narrative looks at internal documents, the voices that revealed them, and the scale of what happens when billions of people interact on a single platform. Haugen stands at the center of that picture, while the fictional character played by Bill Burr may provide an angle that could not be expressed through a direct portrayal. It creates space for a different layer in the script, one that reflects more than it documents.

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Release outlook

No release date has been set for The Social Network 2. Filming is expected to move ahead within the year, but Sony has not shared an official timeline. Even so, attention has already built around the project. The combination of Sorkin’s return, the themes pulled from The Facebook Files, and a cast that mixes rising names with established actors is enough to keep the film in conversation before cameras start rolling.

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Closing thoughts

The Social Network 2 steps into territory that feels current. The first film told the story of how a company was born. The new one follows what happened after that company reshaped the world. Jeremy Allen White, Mikey Madison and possibly Jeremy Strong anchor the film in real figures. Bill Burr negotiates for a fictional role that may work as a mirror for many voices. Together they form a project that combines documented history with dramatic interpretation.