A production company and filmmaker from the UK are suing Netflix for $105 million after an unreleased Nicolas Cage movie was stolen from the streaming service’s offices in Los Angeles. The lawsuit, filed in California federal court, claims that the theft of the movie, “Fortitude,” directed by Simon West, has severely impacted its commercial potential. The film, a Second World War spy thriller, is still in search of potential distributors, but the theft has raised concerns about potential online piracy, making it harder to secure deals.
The lawsuit states that writer-producer Simon Afram, along with Op-Fortitude Ltd., has invested over $45 million in the project. It alleges that a hard drive containing a master screening copy of the film was delivered to Netflix on June 15 without encryption. Netflix was supposed to delete any copies of the film and notify the plaintiffs for pickup after viewing. However, after more than a week, Netflix informed them that drives, including the one with the movie, had been stolen from their offices.
Netflix has denied responsibility, citing the lack of industry-standard safeguards on the drive. The streaming service mentioned that unreleased titles are usually shared through secure links or encrypted digital cinema packages, but in this case, an unencrypted DCP was shared. Netflix claims it took immediate action upon learning about the missing drive, informing internal security and the “Fortitude” team.
The lawsuit also alleges that Netflix did not provide crucial information about the investigation, including whether law enforcement was involved. Netflix defended its stance, mentioning that it did not disclose details due to what it termed as hostile extortion attempts. The company stated that it offered additional assistance, such as monitoring piracy sites for unauthorized distribution.
Simon Afram, through his legal counsel, expressed the team’s commitment to transparency, stating, “We believe our partners deserve complete transparency, and we are dedicated to providing you with accurate information.”