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Aaron Sorkin to adapt story of Facebook for the big screen

29.08.2008 18:01 Arts - Source: cbc.ca

Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin arrives at the world premiere of Charlie Wilson's War in Los Angeles in December 2007. (Chris Pizzello/Associated Press)

The story of Facebook is heading to the big screen.

Hollywood heavyweight Aaron Sorkin, creator of The West Wing and screenwriter for Charlie Wilson's War, has been recruited to write a screenplay based on the story of the successful social networking website.

Sorkin admits that "my grandmother has more internet savvy than I do and she's been dead for 33 years," so he's started his own Facebook page to find out how it works.

He broke news about the film on his Facebook page, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The film's producer will be Scott Rudin, backed by Sony, and the story will centre on the origins of the social network.

"I understand there are a few other people using Facebook pages under my name — which I find more flattering than creepy — but this is me," Sorkin wrote on his page. "I don't know how I can prove that, but feel free to test me."

Sorkin solicited stories about Facebook from the network of users and also engaged users in a Q&A.

In answer to a question about the proposed film, he said: "I honestly don't know how I'm going to write the movie yet."

Facebook was founded by Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg in 2004. The social networking site initially was restricted to Harvard students, then expanded to all Ivy League schools before going on to open up to all universities and high schools in Canada and the U.S.

The site now has more than 100 million users worldwide.

Zuckerberg and fellow students Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes have become very wealthy from Facebook.

Microsoft invested in a small stake in the company last year, but Zuckerberg has so far refused to sell the whole operation.

Rival social networking sites MySpace and Bebo have both sold out to larger media organizations.

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Internal Links

West Wing, Studio 60 creator Sorkin to stage Broadway play

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Aaron Sorkin and the Facebook movie

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