Yes, really: Aaron Sorkin to write Facebook movie

Apparently, it’s really happening: super producer Scott Rudin (No Country for Old Men) has commissioned power screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (Charlie Wilson’s War, The West Wing) to adapt the story behind Facebook’s creation into a movie.

The announcement came through a Facebook group created by Sorkin’s research assistant, in which Sorkin offers himself to the will of the FB community. “I honestly don’t know how this works, which is why I’m here,” he writes. Or rather his assistant is there, because, as he says, “my grandmother has more Internet savvy than I do and she’s been dead for 33 years.”

Backlash is already abundant across the Web, but before we all lose our heads, let’s keep in mind that drama has brewed for years between Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s billionaire CEO, and a number of his former Harvard classmates, who claim the idea was theirs first. According to the Facebook group, the movie will focus less on the politics of Facebook friending than on the much-chronicled early days of the site, including those legal challenges.

Meanwhile, as Sorkin inevitably nets seven figures to figure out what Facebook is, those few Web presences more amused than chagrined by the news have begun floating names to play Zuckerberg, the 24-year-old who has developed into a junior media darling in recent years. Hayden Christensen, says Slashfilm. Dustin Diamond? How's about Jay Baruchel? Feel free to weigh in with your pick in the comments.

Got news tips for Paste? E-mail news@pastemagazine.com.

News

Guns N' Roses Chinese Democracy leaker gets arrested

News

Radiohead webcast to compete with Obama speech

4 Comments

Click to leave a comment.

By Josh Jackson on August 28, 2008

I'll watch anything Sorkin creates, even if it sounds as bad as this.

As for Zuckerberg, how about Shia LaBeouf, the other young-un to go from unknown to "could buy all of Trinidad" in the span of a few months?

By Lisa B. on August 28, 2008

I really hope hayden doesn't get this role....the less movies he is in the less people that know him, the better for me. reason why i say this is because less girls will fall for him. He will be all mine! :D

By Jules Kelly on August 29, 2008

All I can say is, "Pirates of Silicone Valley 2?" See, not everyone has forgotten that TNT gem.

So, maybe this would be a better suit for the channel that loves drama.

And the less movies Hayden Christensen is in, the better. And I don't mean that like Lisa does. I mean it in that he's a horrible actor who should only be featured in Gillette commercials.

By David Gerard on September 1, 2008

I've made the poster for the Facebook movie.