Sorkin's Social Network sequel got his worst audience grade — and lost to a film audiences hated more
Aaron Sorkin's The Social Reckoning got a B- CinemaScore and an estimated $6 million opening, losing the weekend to Jessica Chastain's D+ horror Other Mommy.
Aaron Sorkin's follow-up to The Social Network has the lowest CinemaScore of any film he has written for cinemas. The horror that beat it scored even lower, and is winning anyway.
The Social Reckoning opened on Friday 9 October 2026 and is on track for a $6 million weekend from 2,606 North American cinemas, fifth place on Friday estimates. The Social Network opened to $22.4 million in October 2010 and finished on $224.9 million worldwide, so the sequel is heading for barely a quarter of the original's start. Those who did turn up gave it a B- CinemaScore, which by this weekend's standards is generous.
Top of the chart is Universal's Other Mommy, with Jessica Chastain playing both a mother and the thing impersonating her. It took $12.3 million on Friday and is on track for a $27.5 million debut on a $19 million budget, despite scathing reviews. Its CinemaScore is a D+. Chastain starred in Sorkin's Molly's Game, and she told The Hollywood Reporter the showdown was his idea:
"Aaron wrote me an email, he's the one who brought it to my attention. I don't know if you know this, he's a bit of a wordsmith, and he sent me a very fun email about it, that we were going head to head. But no competition."
— Jessica Chastain, to The Hollywood Reporter
She was right, just less kindly than she meant: Other Mommy is on course to outgross Sorkin's film more than four to one.
Below Malice, below everything
CinemaScore polls audiences on opening night, and a B- for a grown-up prestige drama is a bad sign. It also looks like a career low. A tally posted on r/boxoffice lists every graded film Sorkin has written for cinemas:
- A+: A Few Good Men (1992)
- A: The American President (1995) and Moneyball (2011)
- A-: Charlie Wilson's War (2007), Steve Jobs (2015) and Molly's Game (2017)
- B+: Malice (1993) and The Social Network (2010)
The Trial of the Chicago 7 and Being the Ricardos went to streaming and were never graded. So in 34 years of cinema releases, nothing with Sorkin's name on the script had dropped below a B+ until now.
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Online, the grumbling targets Sorkin the director and the new Zuckerberg. Jesse Eisenberg turned the role down ("it never occurred to me that he wouldn't wanna do it," Sorkin told Entertainment Weekly), and Jeremy Strong took over:
"Jeremy Strong as Zuck is Razzie worthy, everyone else is doing the best they can with an overwritten script."
— a Reddit user on r/boxoffice
Why a D+ still wins
The Social Reckoning cost $30 million after incentives, half of it financed by Alcon, and Sony was hoping for around $7 million. The reviews slid during release week too: 70% on Rotten Tomatoes early on, 59% by Thursday. The Social Network sits at 96%.
Other Mommy never needed critics: its trailer went viral after playing in front of The Odyssey. "Even by horror standards, that's a horrible grade!" wrote one Reddit user, though the same thread noted Hereditary got a D+ too and is now a modern classic.
A $19 million horror film can live with a D+. A $30 million drama for adults can't really live with a B-.
Sunday's figures will firm up these Friday-based estimates. Sorkin told THR that on 10 October he would be "at the bottom of the mountain" like Sisyphus, open to a third Facebook film. It's 10 October. The boulder looks a lot bigger than it did in 2010.
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