Comedian Bill Burr is in talks to join the bold-faced cast of Aaron Sorkin and Sony Pictures’ The Social Network Part II.
Sorkin, who won an Academy Award for penning the 2010 original movie, wrote the script and will direct the Sony drama that is inspired by a series of articles Jeff Horwitz wrote for The Wall Street Journal known as “The Facebook Files.”
Sorkin has been assembling a riotous list of next generation talent, with the call sheet so far including Jeremy Allen White, Mikey Madison and Jeremy Strong, who are in the process of wrapping up their deals.
While the acclaimed 2010 drama focused on the making of Facebook, now known as Meta, the story of the new feature will focus on how the company’s own reporting pointed to the negative effects the its social media was having on teens and kids, how it knew misinformation was proliferating and causing violence and how it contributed to the violent insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021.
White, Madison and Strong are playing real-life personages: White will play Wall Street Journal reporter Horwitz, Madison will portray Frances Haugen, the data engineer turned whistleblower, and Strong is said to be playing CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Burr, however, is said to be playing a character that is fictional or an amalgamation, according to sources.
Production is due to start later this year in Vancouver. Todd Black, Peter Rice, Sorkin and Stuart Besser are producing.
Burr has been nominated for Emmy and Grammy Awards for his stand-up comedy work and specials as well as a leading podcaster. While he has popped up in movies and TV shows such as The King of Staten Island, Breaking Bad and The Mandalorian, he made his directorial debut and starred in a lead role with Old Dads, a 2023 comedy that premiered as the most watched film worldwide on Netflix in its first and second week on the platform with 29.6 million views in the first 10 days.
Burr earned strong reviews for his Broadway debut earlier this year, starring alongside Kieran Culkin and Bob Odenkirk in Glengarry Glen Ross. And he has lined up his next directorial effort, Born Losers, which he co-wrote and will produce and star in.
Burr is repped by WME, 3 Arts Entertainment and Schreck Rose.
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