Slashdot has reported:

The Social Reckoning opened with $5.5 million, falling short of the box-office success of 2010’s The Social Network. The film centres on data engineer Frances Haugen’s decision to expose how Facebook’s algorithms promoted political content that radicalized users and how the company knew its products were contributing to increased bullying and teen suicide.

The story may have had less urgency than the first film, according to an IndieWire analysis cited by Slashdot. The new movie arrives as artificial intelligence dominates headlines, with fears about economic disruption as machines replace millions of jobs and the possibility of a world-ending event.

Haugen’s testimony did not lead to lasting change at Facebook, the analysis said. IndieWire’s Ryan Lattanzio questioned whether the whistleblowing’s aftermath remains relevant: “‘The Social Reckoning’ argues that the aftermath of their whistleblowing is still somehow felt today. In actuality, living as we do in 2026, it pretty much feels like... no one cared, and nothing changed?”

After the director of the first movie bowed out, Sony Pictures avoided marketing The Social Reckoning as a sequel, but the cited article said its difficulties go beyond that decision. It described the film as both a financial and critical failure, with blistering reviews.

Sony kept the film’s production budget at $30 million, which means its losses are not expected to reach the scale of Digger, the article said. Variety reported that Digger earned $3.2 million from 3,321 theatres in its second weekend, a 60 per cent decline from its $8-million opening.

The Tom Cruise satire has so far taken in $14 million domestically and $35.3 million worldwide. Warner Bros. spent more than $160 million to produce it, and the film is shaping up to be one of the biggest box-office bombs ever, Variety reported.