'The Social Network' Easter Eggs: 'Fight Club' And Natalie Portman

The Social Network is certainly the main topic of discussion among film fans this weekend. The latest film from director David Fincher and writer Aaron Sorkin, which dramatizes the creation of Facebook, was the number one movie at the box office with $23 million and is currently holding an impressive 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. So, it's safe to say we like the movie. Now it's time to delve into its minutia. Many people have pointed out there's a reference to Fincher's signature movie, Fight Club, in the film while the mystery behind a "movie star" on the Harvard campus has also been revealed. Hit the jump to read about these Social Network Easter eggs and discuss any you found yourself.  Minor spoilers follow.The reference to David Fincher's 1999 film Fight Club comes in the second half of the film. It's when Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) is drumming up discussion/cheating on school work using a fake Facebook account. All too briefly, we get a glimpse of his screen. And what's the name on the account?tylerdurden

That's right, none other than Tyler Durden, the infamous lead character of both the Fincher film and Chuck Palahniuk novel, famously played by Brad Pitt.

Another reference in the film happens in one of the deposition scenes where a character describes Zuckerberg as being "the biggest thing on a campus that included nineteen Nobel Laureates, fifteen Pulitzer Prize winners, two future Olympians, and a movie star." Many people know that Natalie Portman, star of The Professional, the Star Wars prequels and the new Darren Aronofsky film Black Swan, attended Harvard from 1999-2003. So, when a lawyer asks who the movie star is only to get the reply, "Does it matter?" it's a sly, Sorkin reference. But there's a reason she gets mentioned.

Entertainment Weekly originally reported that Portman approached Sorkin offering her insight when she heard he was doing the film.

Natalie Portman got in touch with me when she heard that I was doing this to say, 'Listen...come over for dinner and I'll tell you some stories,' I would've come over for dinner under any circumstances. But that was really helpful.

There's so much going on in The Social Network that we're sure these aren't the only two pop culture nuggets buried in the subtext. What else did you guys catch?

Thanks to /Film reader will_ring for the tip.