You don’t get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies.

The Social Network Release Date: October 1, 2010 MPAA Rating: TBA Andrew’s Role: Eduardo Saverin Also Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Timberlake, Rooney Mara Directed by: David Fincher Produced by: Scott Rudin Screenplay by: Aaron Sorkin Genres: Drama, Biopic Running Time: TBA Distributors: Columbia Pictures U.S. Box Office: Not yet released

On a fall night in 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programming genius Mark Zuckerberg sits down at his computer and heatedly begins working on a new idea. In a fury of blogging and programming, what begins in his dorm room soon becomes a global social network and a revolution in communication. A mere six years and 500 million friends later, Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire in history, but for this entrepreneur, success leads to both personal and legal complications.

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Based on the real person, Eduardo Saverin is one of the co-founders of Facebook. While at Harvard, Eduardo met Mark Zuckerberg in his sophomore year and later co-founded Facebook with Mark during his junior year, assuming the role of business manager. However, due to internal conflicts and differences of opinion with Zuckerberg over the following summer when Saverin was living in New York (where he worked briefly as a finance intern), Saverin drifted from what was then known as thefacebook, a fast-growing Silicon Valley start-up. After outside investors—principally venture capitalist and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel—took control of the start-up’s finances and capital needs and backed Zuckerberg as its CEO, Saverin’s role diminished and his influence evaporated.

His departure from Facebook was the subject of subsequent legal action. He later won the right to have his name listed among the other founders in a lawsuit.

“It’s one of those stories that’s been crafted to encapsulate many themes. It’s almost Greek in its scope, Shakespearean in its scope. It deals with power, with greed, with betrayal, all these universal human experiences and emotions that we all go through. I think a great film can do that.”

Filming for The Social Network began in October 2009 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Scenes were filmed around the campuses of two Massachusetts prep schools, Phillips Academy and Milton Academy. Additional scenes were filmed on the campus of Wheelock College, which was set up to be Harvard’s campus.

Casting began in early August 2009, and open auditions were held in various states. Shia LaBeouf and Michael Cera were previously considered for the role of Mark Zuckerberg.

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross scored the music for the film.