DAMAGE CONTROL

Facebook Tried to Alter Movie Script

Because of Zuckerberg portrayal.

Mark Zuckerberg is learning the hard way that changing your public image is harder than switching your profile photo. The Facebook co-founder did not like his portrayal as an immature egomaniac in The Social Network, which hits theaters tonight, and took a series of steps to change it. On one hand, he worked to discredit the film, providing an alternative history for the early days of Facebook. And on the other, he actively tried to have the script changed, according to one producer. But Ben Mezrich, who wrote the book the film is based on, The Accidental Billionaires, maintains the film stayed accurate. "They haven't pointed out anything that isn't true," he said. The producers never had Facebook’s formal cooperation, though at least one executive sat down for detailed negotiations over the film’s content, arguing that the picture it painted of Zuckerberg was not “sympathetic.”