The Social Network 2 is eyeing Jeremy Strong as the top choice to play Mark Zuckerberg

The Social Network 2 is officially taking place, and it will continue the story of Meta's chief and billionaire Mark Zuckerberg. However, Jesse Eisenberg will not be returning to portray the main role.

Succession actor Jeremy Strong is one of the frontrunners to portray Zuckerberg in the sequel. David Fincher, who helmed the 2010 film, will not be returning to direct the sequel. Aaron Sorkin will be directing the forthcoming sequel. More details are expected to emerge in the coming days. Let us look into the available details of this upcoming film, which will focus on the Facebook founder.

Jeremy Strong might play Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network 2

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Deadline has reported that the Succession actor Jeremy Strong is the first choice of the makers of The Social Network 2 to portray Mark Zuckerberg. While he has not received any direct offer, the makers are considering him for the role.

Earlier, names like Mikey Madison and Jeremy Allen White were being floated to play roles in the new film. The upcoming film will be written and directed by Aaron Sorkin; he was the writer of the 2010 film, which was directed by David Fincher. The film will be produced by Sorkin, Todd Black, Stuart Besser, and Peter Rice.

The Social Network 2 will be more of a follow-up to the 2010 film, and it will tap into The Facebook Files, a series of articles published by Jeff Horowitz in the Wall Street Journal in October 2021. These articles exposed how Facebook functioned and how it harmed in different ways by enabling fake news, etc.

As per Deadline, Jeremy Allen White might portray Horowitz, while Madison will be the whistleblower who provided information for the articles.

The first film was an adaptation of Ben Mezrich's 2009 book, The Accidental Billionaires, and chronicled how Facebook came to life. It was produced by Scott Rudin, Cean Chaffin, Dana Brunetti, and Michael De Luca. The film had its world premiere at the New York Film Festival and was released subsequently on October 1, 2010. It met with positive critical response and grossed $224.9 million. No one from Facebook was involved with the film.

In a Times magazine interview, Sorkin revealed how he said yes to the project.

"What came to me was a 14-page book proposal that Ben Mezrich had written for his publisher. I read it, and I said yes very quickly. Faster than I’ve ever said yes to anything. It really didn’t have much at all to do with Facebook itself. I wasn’t on Facebook. I don’t spend a lot of time on the Internet, and social networking wasn’t really part of my life. But the story itself! There are elements of it that are as old as storytelling: friendship and loyalty, class, jealousy, betrayal — all those kinds of things that were being written about 4,000 years ago."

Jesse Eisenberg portrayed Zuckerberg in the film and received a Best Actor Oscar nomination. The film received a total of eight nominations at the ceremony, taking home awards in the categories of Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing, and Best Original Score. Sorkin, who wrote the script, will be helming The Social Network 2. It was officially announced in June this year after the writer had pondered the idea for several years.

Are you excited about The Social Network 2?