"The Social Network" Tops Box Office with $23 Million Weekend

Posted 10/04/2010 at 5:07am | by Paul Lilly

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The reviews are in, and The Social Network didn't have much trouble finding friends at the box office. It was the No. 1 movie this past weekend, pulling in a respectable $23 million.

The Social Network is a dramatization about the founders of the world's most popular social networking website, Facebook. Hollywood definitely took some liberties in adding spice to how events really played out, and in doing so, director David Fincher brought out a brilliant performance from actor Jesse Eisenburg, who portrayed the face of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg.

"It really is a great start for us. This is a move that is resonating everywhere. The reviews are the best I've seen at our studio in my career," said Rory Bruer, head of Sony Distribution to the AP. "It's just one of the movies that critics and audiences alike are embracing, and I think it's going to have a tremendous life."

The movie delves into Zuckerberg's legal dealings with his best friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield) over millions of dollars Saverin claimed he was cheated out of, as well as with three other Harvard students who accused Zuckerberg of stealing their idea.

There's a fair amount of nerd speak in the beginning, particularly as Zuckerberg hacks into Harvard's PCs to swipe student pictures for a separate project, so it's not the ideal date movie (try You Again if you're looking to score some brownie points and catch Betty White before the Grim Reaper does). But it is worth watching, even if Nancy Doyle Palmer at The Huffington Post disagrees.

Image Credit: Sony