'Social Network' poster, Web site unveiled

Actor Jesse Eisenberg plays Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in 'The Social Network,' coming out this fall.

(Credit: Columbia Pictures)

 

"YOU DON'T GET TO 500 MILLION FRIENDS WITHOUT MAKING A FEW ENEMIES," reads the tagline on the first official poster for "The Social Network," the upcoming Columbia Pictures film about the origins of Facebook.

The all-caps text covers the entire poster, superimposed over the face of young actor Jesse Eisenberg, who wears an expression of awe on the cusp of metamorphosing into malevolence. In "The Social Network," due in theaters this October, Eisenberg plays Mark Zuckerberg, who founded Facebook in his dorm room at Harvard University and ultimately turned it into a digital empire with nearly 500 million members. In a skinny side bar on the poster--which is otherwise dominated by Eisenberg's face, tousled curly hair, and sloppy gray hoodie--the title "The Social Network" is laid out in the manner of Facebook's own font and navigation bar, with the movie Web site 500millionfriends.com depicted as though it had just been typed in a search box.

Blogger Nick Douglas called the poster "beautiful" and "ready-made" to go viral on the Web, noting that the placement of the logo makes the whole thing look like it's on an iPad.

This is a movie that Hollywood is taking seriously: with director David Fincher ("Fight Club," "Zodiac") working with a script by Aaron Sorkin ("The West Wing") and a cast of well-regarded young actors, there are now rumors that Columbia parent company Sony Pictures Entertainment is pushing back the release date of the next Gus Van Sant film, "Restless," to January in order to focus end-of-year marketing energy and potentially Oscar buzz generation on "The Social Network."

The movie, however, doesn't have Facebook's blessing. Based on author Ben Mezrich's ribald, unauthorized tell-all "The Accidental Billionaires," the storyline doesn't present a favorable view of Zuckerberg. Facebook has dismissed the tale as fanciful gossip, but audiences who've read unfavorable headlines recently about the company may think differently.

By Caroline McCarthy, a CNET News staff writer, is a downtown Manhattanite happily addicted to social-media tools and restaurant blogs. Her pre-CNET resume includes interning at an IT security firm and brewing cappuccinos. E-mail Caroline. 

 

Newscribe : get free news in real time