'The Social Reckoning' bombs at the box office

The Social Reckoning has been, as several reports indicated, one of this year's most anticipated movies.

A sequel to the critically acclaimed The Social Network, the Aaron Sorkin-directed flick bombed at the box office when it was released.

With a $30 million budget, the domestic opening was a paltry $5.5 million, and the worldwide total was $9 million.

According to Variety, The Social Reckoning's box-office collapse has several causes.

Starting with failure to attract cinemagoers. As a result, against Sony's expectation of an opening of up to $8 million domestically, the film earned only $5.5 million.

Then there is the comparison issue. The Social Reckoning, by comparison, was compared to its original, which won four Academy Awards and grossed over $224 million globally.

That comparison may have led some audiences to conclude the sequel lagged behind its predecessor.

Additionally, David Fincher directed the original, and Jesse Eisenberg played Mark Zuckerberg.

But in the latest movie, neither returned, leading the studio to call The Social Reckoning a 'companion piece' rather than a direct sequel.

That is one of the reasons, according to Variety, which played against the new movie.