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\u201cThe Social Reckoning,\u201d Aaron Sorkin\u2019s follow-up to \u201cThe Social Network,\u201d is on-track to make only $5.5 million at the domestic box office<\/a> this weekend, according to Sunday estimates.<\/p>\n That\u2019s below the already underwhelming $7 million to $8 million the studio had projected, and it means Sorkin\u2019s new movie is unlikely to become a \u201cSocial Network\u201d-sized hit. The earlier film had a $22 million opening weekend and made a total of $97 million domestically (and that\u2019s at 2010 ticket prices). It also won Sorkin an Oscar and became one of most influential on-screen depictions of Silicon Valley and startup culture.<\/p>\n Beyond the fate of a single film, the weekend box office could also offer hints about audience excitement, or lack thereof, as we kick off a fall full of movies starring villainous, real-world tech CEOs<\/a>. There\u2019s Alex Gibney\u2019s four-hour documentary \u201cMusk\u201d<\/a> (which also opened this weekend), Nathan Fielder\u2019s apparently uncategorizable Elizabeth Holmes documentary \u201cYou Can See Everything\u201d <\/a>(coming next weekend!), and the OpenAI boardroom drama \u201cArtificial\u201d (which has a new distributor <\/a>after being dropped by Amazon).<\/p>\n Outside of theaters, Netflix also has a series called \u201cThe Altruists\u201d coming in November<\/a>, telling the story of Sam Bankman-Fried and the collapse of FTX.<\/p>\n As for \u201cThe Social Reckoning,\u201d while \u201cThe Social Network\u201d was a notable success, the theatrical landscape has changed significantly in the last 16 years. And where the first film focused on the excitement and drama of Facebook\u2019s early days, the sequel is darker and heavier \u2014 it\u2019s all about whistleblower Frances Haugen\u2019s decision<\/a> to leak what became known as the Facebook files.<\/p>\n So maybe a movie about Senate hearings and algorithm changes was never going to be a big hit. Or maybe \u201cThe Social Reckoning\u201d\u2019s real audience is among older moviegoers who have only returned sporadically to theaters<\/a>. And I wonder if critiquing Facebook feels a bit less urgent to audiences who are more likely to be losing sleep over AI.<\/p>\n Maybe just as importantly, the new movie\u2019s reviews just aren\u2019t very good<\/a>. (For what it\u2019s worth, I enjoyed \u201cThe Social Reckoning\u201d but will fully admit that it\u2019s overloaded Sorkin\u2019s trademark speechifying. And I couldn\u2019t help dreaming about a version directed \u2014 like the original \u2014 by David Fincher, with a score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.)<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cMusk,\u201d meanwhile, made $69,000 during its opening weekend in four theaters. It will roll out more broadly in the coming weeks, but given its length and subject matter, the documentary will probably reach many more viewers once it starts streaming on HBO Max.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission<\/a>. This doesn\u2019t affect our editorial independence.<\/em><\/p>\n