Aaron Sorkin's "The Social Reckoning," the follow-up to "The Social Network," is projected to earn only $5.5 million at the domestic box office this weekend, according to Sunday estimates. That figure falls below the $7 million to $8 million the studio had already projected, signaling a weak opening for the film. The sequel focuses on whistleblower Frances Haugen's decision to leak what became known as the Facebook files.

The original "The Social Network" opened with $22 million and went on to make $97 million domestically at 2010 ticket prices. It also won Sorkin an Oscar and became one of the most influential on-screen depictions of Silicon Valley and startup culture. The new film is unlikely to match that level of success.

The weekend's box office performance could offer hints about audience appetite as a fall slate of movies about villainous, real-world tech CEOs begins. Alex Gibney's four-hour documentary "Musk" also opened this weekend, while Nathan Fielder's Elizabeth Holmes documentary "You Can See Everything" arrives next weekend. The OpenAI boardroom drama "Artificial" has a new distributor after being dropped by Amazon.

Outside theaters, Netflix has a series called "The Altruists" coming in November about Sam Bankman-Fried and the collapse of FTX. The theatrical landscape has changed significantly in the 16 years since "The Social Network" was released. Where the first film centered on the excitement and drama of Facebook's early days, the sequel is darker and heavier.

It is possible that a movie about Senate hearings and algorithm changes was never going to be a big hit. The real audience for "The Social Reckoning" may be older moviegoers who have only returned sporadically to theaters. Critiquing Facebook may also feel less urgent to audiences who are more likely to be losing sleep over AI.

The new movie's reviews have not been very good. "Musk" made $69,000 during its opening weekend in four theaters. It will roll out more broadly in the coming weeks, though given its length and subject matter, the documentary will probably reach many more viewers once it starts streaming on HBO Max.

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