HBO picks up Doomsday Machine series about Facebook with Claire Foy
Claire Foy will be playing Facebook/Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg in the series
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Years ago, Aaron Sorkin teased that he had some ideas in his head for how to do a sequel to The Social Network, the 2010 movie he wrote about the rise of vengeful creep Mark Zuckerberg and his insidious “The Facebook” website, but HBO seems like it’s about to beat him to it. As scooped by Puck’s Matthew Belloni (and then written up by The Hollywood Reporter), HBO has landed Doomsday Machine, a drama series about the more recent shenanigans that Zuckerberg and his pals have gotten into lately.
The project is based on the book An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook’s Battle For Domination by New York Times writers Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang, plus New Yorker reporting from Andrew Marantz. More specifically, the series will be a “riveting human drama chronicling the political and social minefields Facebook has navigated on its relentless quest for growth.”
That description sounds a little neutral, like this won’t be taking the harsh stance on Facebook that it very, very, very much deserves, but the series is called The Doomsday Machine. That’s not a super flattering name for anything that isn’t made by Lex Luthor or Elon Musk, and Zuckerberg is a different kind of evil. (Though Jesse Eisenberg did play both Zuckerberg and Luthor, which was such a clever casting move that there’s no way in hell it came from Zack Snyder.)
Anyway, The series will star Claire Foy as Sheryl Sandberg, the author of that Lean In book and the current COO of Facebook—sorry, “Meta Platforms,” with our eyeroll over the new name hopefully coming across. Zuckerberg himself hasn’t been cast yet, but following up Jesse Eisenberg’s frustratingly likable performance as the decidedly unlikable jerk will be a tall order. Maybe just bring Eisenberg back? Or use a CG Zuckerberg “metaverse” avatar in place of a real actor?
11 Comments
Why didn’t you tell the world, eh?
While I’m not disappointed for having watched The Social Network, I find that the only lasting thing of value from that film is the soundtrack.
One film about this piece of shit robot who never learned to love is enough, thank you.
Facebook isn’t the problem. The problem is you are just now realizing how shitty and petty your neighbors have always been.
Hoping for another Tarantino-esque ending wherein the entire company goes under, every employee goes broke and has to do two shifts as an Uber driver to survive and Zuckerburg is eaten alive by a bunch of red ants while being read an entire Facebook feed of a 70 year old woman from Iowa. It will all end with Jennifer Lawrence firebombing the corporate headquarters to a soundtrack of a choir based remake of the choir based remake of Radiohead’s Creep
That’s kind of what The Circle was, minus the actual violence. But it ended with the takedown of its Google/Facebook standin. I love these alternate history tech industry movies. About twenty years ago when Microsoft was the big bad, there was Antitrust which likewise ended with the Microsoft standin losing.
Oh, those simple times when Microsoft was seen as the evil empire and Bill Gates the spawn of Satan.
but the series is called The Doomsday Machine.Sure, but… just call it Doomsday Machine. It’s cleaner.
Didn’t someone over at the Atlantic write an article about how Facebook was a “doomsday machine” in the Dr. Strangelove mold? Seems like they should get some attribution.I checked —- it was Adrienne LaFrance, and it’s still the top Google hit for “facebook doomsday machine.”
Though Jesse Eisenberg did play both Zuckerberg and Luthor, which was
such a clever casting move that there’s no way in hell it came from Zack
Snyder.This is precisely the kind of unsubtle, beat-you-over-the-head, “remember this?” type of thing that consistently comes from Zack Synder.