LOS ANGELES (AP) — Movie fans are spending some face time with a story about the founders of Facebook.

The Social Network, director David Fincher’s drama about the quarrelsome creation of the online juggernaut, debuted as the No 1 weekend film with $23 million.

Distributor Sony hopes for a long shelf life for the film, which has earned Academy Awards buzz and rave reviews. Rory Bruer, Sony’s head of distribution, said The Social Network has a good shot at becoming a $100 million hit.

“It really is a great start for us. This is a movie that is resonating everywhere. The reviews are the best I’ve seen at our studio in my career,” Bruer said. “It’s just one of those movies that critics and audiences alike are embracing, and I think it’s going to have a tremendous life.”

The Social Network traces the history of Facebook from Harvard University, where computer whiz Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) and best friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield) launched the site, through its meteoric rise with 500 million members and a stock value in the billions.

Justin Timberlake co-stars as Napster founder Sean Parker. Facebook has called the film fiction about its founder, the notoriously private Zuckerberg.

The weekend’s other new wide releases had weak starts. Paramount’s horror flick Case 39, starring Renee Zellweger, opened at No 7 with $5.35 million, while Overture Film’s vampire tale Let Me In, adapted from a Swedish film and based on the novel Let the Right One In, debuted at No 8 with $5.3 million.

Overall business was down, with domestic movie revenues totalling $97 million, off 9 per cent from the same weekend last year, according to Hollywood.com.

Studios are banking on its wave of dramas for older crowds to carry the business until an onslaught of family flicks, big comedies and action tales arrives in November and December.