The Social Reckoning opens on 39 Malaysian cinemas after a soft start abroad

The Social Reckoning, Aaron Sorkin's return to Facebook fifteen years after The Social Network, opens in Malaysia on Thursday 15 October at 39 cinemas. It arrives after a quiet first weekend elsewhere: Screen Daily estimated US$9 million worldwide, only seventh place on the global chart.

The whistleblower, not the founder

This is not a retelling of the first film. Screen Daily's review describes a meticulously researched dramatisation of how Facebook employee Frances Haugen turned whistleblower in 2019, working with Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz. Mikey Madison plays Haugen and Jeremy Allen White plays Horwitz. The Star's preview notes that Jeremy Strong takes over the role of Mark Zuckerberg; the review says his version leans into the man's unwavering self-belief and is not the boyish figure Jesse Eisenberg played. Betty Gilpin, Billy Magnussen, Wunmi Mosaku and Bill Burr also appear.

Solid, says the review; soft, says the box office

Screen Daily's critic calls it a more stolid affair than its predecessor, but credits a whip-smart screenplay and finds the ending, which sets Haugen's Senate testimony of October 2021 against the Capitol attack, undoubtedly stirring. The paying audience was cooler. Screen Daily reported an estimated US$5.5 million in North America and US$3.5 million from 29 international markets. In the UK and Ireland it opened fifth, with £621,000 from 610 sites, against the £2.5 million The Social Network took on its full opening there.

For a reader in Malaysia, the numbers mostly mean this: it is a dialogue film for an evening, not a weekend event, and the halls will not be crowded.

A Klang Valley release

Of this week's openings it is the narrowest, carried by four chains: GSC with 348 sessions to Tuesday 20 October, TGV with 328, AE Cinemas with 43 and Mega with 16. Kuala Lumpur has 221 of the 735 sessions and Selangor 175, with Penang and Perak at 60 each, so readers outside the Klang Valley should check the nearest cinema first. Several sessions are in premium halls, including TGV's Indulge and GSC's Velvet.

The busiest cinemas are TGV Pavilion Bukit Jalil with 29 sessions this week, TGV Sunway Pyramid with 27 and TGV Suria KLCC with 26; outside the Klang Valley, GSC Gurney Plaza in Penang has 24. Sarawak has 36 sessions and Sabah 24. The count holds steady, around 130 a day from Thursday to Sunday, so there is no opening-night rush to beat.

Before you book

The chains classify it 16 and list it at 112 minutes. The first sessions start just after midnight tonight. The Social Reckoning page lists all 39 cinemas, and the showtimes page sets out each cinema's Social Reckoning sessions, each linking to the chain's booking page.