The Social Network, the hit movie depicting the founding of Facebook, makes its way to DVD and Blu-ray Tuesday. Sony Pictures Entertainment said last week in a press release that it was set to cross the $200 million mark at the worldwide box office, before being re-released in 600 theaters in the U.S. on Friday.
"The Social Network has struck a chord with audiences all around the world," said Jeff Blake, chairman, Worldwide Marketing and Distribution for Sony Pictures. "No invention defines our era like Facebook does, but what has made it break through as a motion picture is that it is a parable for our time.
"Everyone, everywhere, can relate to the human motivations of the real-life people who are depicted in the film," he added. "At the box office, this film showed true staying power, grossing more than four times its opening weekend gross – a rare accomplishment when the average for wide releases last year was below three times its opening weekend gross. It is always a great feeling to see a film connect with moviegoers, but this film is incredibly special to us – we are as proud of it as any film in our studio’s history."
The press release lists some of the honors the film has received:
The Social Network has been embraced during this year’s awards season, with four honors from the National Board of Review, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Actor for Jesse Eisenberg. The film has also received six Golden Globe nominations, including Best Picture – Drama, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Original Score, and nominations for Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield, as well as two nominations from the Screen Actors Guild, including Ensemble and Eisenberg for Best Actor, and nominations for Best Picture from the Producers Guild of America and Best Adapted Screenplay from the Writers Guild of America. The film has also been named Best Picture by 24 critics groups, including the New York Film Critics Circle, the New York Film Critics Online, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the Chicago Film Critics Association, the San Francisco Film Critics, the Boston Society of Film Critics, the Dallas/Ft. Worth Film Critics Association, the Washington Area Film Critics Association, the Toronto Film Critics Association, the UK Regional Critics Awards, Sight and Sound, the Village Voice/LA Weekly Critics Poll, the African American Film Critics Association, the Black Film Critics Circle, the Southeastern Film Critics Association, the Houston Film Critics Society, the Detroit Film Critics Society, the Florida Film Critics Circle Awards, the St. Louis Film Critics Association, the Indiana Film Journalist Awards, the Utah Film Critics Association, the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle, and the Las Vegas Film Critics Society. The film also appears on over 350 critics’ Top Ten lists.
The film has been named Best Picture of the Year by numerous publications, including The New York Times, New York Post, The New Yorker, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, LA Weekly, Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, Chicago Sun-Times, Denver Post, Boston Phoenix, Cleveland Sun, the Daily Mail, the Daily Telegraph, the Huffington Post, IFC.com, Miami Herald, Lincoln Journal-Star, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, MSN Movies, North County Times, Oklahoma Gazette, Omaha World Herald, Orlando Weekly, Sight & Sound, Time Out Chicago, Time Out New York, and Tulsa World, among many others.
The Social Network will no doubt continue to rake in money throughout Awards Season. Currently, IMDB has the film listed at 8.2 stars, which is pretty high for an IMDB rating.
The DVD contains over 8 hours of bonus extras about the film.
Read my review of The Social Network here.
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