Claim: Jesse Eisenberg worked with an actor.

The Social Network is a 2010 American biographical drama film directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin . Adapted from Ben Mezrich 's 2009 book The Accidental Billionaires : The Founding of Facebook , A Tale of Sex , Money , Genius , and Betrayal , the film portrays the founding of social networking website Facebook and the resulting lawsuits . It stars Jesse Eisenberg as founder Mark Zuckerberg , along with Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Saverin , Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker , and Armie Hammer as Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss . Neither Zuckerberg nor any other Facebook staff were involved with the project , although Saverin was a consultant for Mezrich 's book . The film was released in the United States by Columbia Pictures on October 1 , 2010 .   The Social Network received widespread acclaim , with critics praising its direction , screenplay , acting , editing and score . Although several people portrayed in the film criticized its historical inaccuracies , the film appeared on 78 critics ' Top 10 lists for 2010 ; of those critics , 22 had the film in their number-one spot , the most of any film in its year . Rolling Stones Peter Travers said `` The Social Network is the movie of the year . But Fincher and Sorkin triumph by taking it further . Lacing their scathing wit with an aching sadness , they define the dark irony of the past decade . '' It was also Roger Ebert 's selection for the best film of the year .   At the 83rd Academy Awards , the film received eight nominations , including Best Picture , Best Director for Fincher , and Best Actor for Eisenberg , and won three for Best Adapted Screenplay , Best Original Score , and Best Film Editing . The film also received awards for Best Motion Picture -- Drama , Best Director , Best Screenplay , and Best Original Score at the 68th Golden Globe Awards .