Sony's Oscarbait Flop Is Removed From Nearly 2,000 Theaters

Published Oct 26, 2026, 12:58 PM EDT Brennan Klein (he/him) is a senior news writer at Screen Rant, host of the Attack of the Queerwolf podcast, and contributor at Alternate Ending and Horror Press. He has been writing and podcasting about pop culture (especially horror movies) for over a decade at platforms including Blumhouse, Fangoria, Dread Central, The Backlot, and Arrow in the Head. The Social Reckoning has run out of friends at the box office. 2026's The Social Reckoning is a sequel to the 2010 hit The Social Network that was written and directed by Aaron Sorkin (who won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for the original movie, which was directed by David Fincher). The cast of the sequel features an Oscar winner (Mikey Madison as Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen), two Oscar nominees (Jeremy Strong as Mark Zuckerberg and Wunmi Mosaku as crisis management consultant Raya), and two Emmy winners (Jeremy Allen White as Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Hortwitz and Betty Gilpin as his boss, Kris). Per Box Office Mojo, The Social Reckoning was removed from 1,987 theaters during its third weekend at the domestic box office, bringing its theater total to 619. While it played in 2,606 theaters during its first and second weekends, it severely underperformed. After debuting at No. 5 with a disappointing $5 million, it had a brutal 72% drop during its sophomore weekend (the 178th worst drop of all time). Even though the movie wasn't especially expensive, with a reported budget between $30 and $42 million, it has so far grossed just $15 million worldwide. That price tag most likely places its estimated break-even point somewhere between $75 and $105 million, which cements it as a sizable flop commercially as well as critically (The Social Reckoning reviews have earned it a score of 54% on Rotten Tomatoes). Its inability to connect with mainstream audiences is especially highlighted by the fact that it has been removed from so many theaters. Choose the movie with the higher Rotten Tomatoes score. While some screens did need to be freed up to make room for new releases (including the DC Studios horror movie Clayface, Laika's stop-motion fantasy movie Wildwood, and the offbeat romantic comedy Wicker), The Social Reckoning has officially had the 80th biggest week 3 theater drop of all time, between the Gerard Butler drama Playing for Keeps (-1,989) and the young adult adaptation The Sun is Also a Star (-1,978), which is tied for No. 81 with Eli Roth's video game adaptation Borderlands. Additionally, The Social Network has had the sixth-biggest week 3 theater drop of the year so far, only falling behind some of 2026's biggest bombs, including the Universal Monsters reimagining The Bride! (which earned $20 million against a reported $80 million), Ridley Scott's post-apocalyptic movie The Dog Stars (which grossed $39 million against $70 to $110 million), and the divisive Tom Cruise black comedy Digger (which is still in theaters but is projected to lose Warner Bros. $150 million or more). Below, see the 10 worst week 3 theater drops of 2026 so far and where they rank on the all-time chart: Rank Title Week 2 Week 3 Drop #8 The Bride! 3,304 708 -2,596 #10 Digger 3,321 786 -2,535 #32 The Dog Stars 3,330 1,030 -2,300 #36 Super Troopers 3 2,760 510 -2,250 #73 One Night Only 3,012 1,009 -2,003 #80 The Social Reckoning 2,606 619 -1,987 #97 Passenger 2,534 625 -1,909 #102 Animal Farm 2,140 260 -1,880 #106 Jackass: Best and Last 2,855 989 -1,866 #112 The Uprising 2,069 223 -1,846 It is worth noting that The Social Reckoning played in fewer theaters to start with than any of the five movies above it, so it losing so many theaters (85% of its total) sees it proportionally dropping slightly harder than Digger (-71.9%), though not quite so severely as The Dog Stars (-90.7%). Enjoy ScreenRant's box office coverage? Click below to sign up for my weekly box office newsletter (make sure to check "Box Office" in your preferences) and get exclusive analysis, predictions, and more: Sign Up Release Date October 9, 2026 Runtime 112 Minutes Director Aaron Sorkin Writers Aaron Sorkin Producers Stuart M. Besser, Todd Black, Aaron Sorkin, Peter Rice Cast Mikey Madison Frances Haugen