Netflix is facing a multi-million dollar lawsuit after a copy of an unreleased Nicolas Cage movie was allegedly stolen from the company’s Los Angeles office. Has anyone checked whether Cage was rehearsing for another National Treasure?
Nicolas Cage Movie Stolen from Netflix
The film in question is Fortitude, a World War II drama directed by Simon West (Con Air) and based on the true story of British intelligence operatives who used elaborate deception tactics to mislead Nazi leadership.
Writer-producer Simon Afram and his company, Op-Fortitude, claim Netflix potentially jeopardized the movie’s distribution prospects by failing to safeguard the stolen copy. They are now seeking damages of at least $105 million.
According to the complaint, Netflix had previously expressed interest in purchasing Fortitude and later requested that a digital cinema package (DCP) be delivered to its offices so it could test the movie.
On June 15, a producer hand-delivered a drive containing Fortitude to Netflix and allegedly told the company that the DCP was unencrypted and that the files should be deleted after the screening. Ten days later, a Netflix executive explained that the drive had been stolen.
In a June 25 email, Sean Berney, Netflix’s head of film acquisitions, wrote, “This is a first for us. Unfortunately, someone stole a good amount of drives from our office desks this past week. We’ve been working through this with our security teams to no luck. Our piracy teams are on high alert with the breach and will monitor.“
Netflix Responds
In a statement, a company spokesperson said, “Netflix disputes any claim that it bears the risk of loss for a film delivered without the proper industry-standard safeguards. While we do not own the rights to Fortitude, we take content security seriously and have taken extra measures to support the filmmaker and his team. This includes conducting a thorough investigation and offering to monitor known piracy sites for any unauthorized distribution or sale.“
Netflix added that it has declined to share any details of its ongoing investigation with the law firm representing Afram, “given their hostile attempts to extort money from Netflix over this situation – including immediately demanding $165 million for the film rather than work with us in good faith.“
Afram Also Sued Martin Scorsese
This isn’t the first time that Afram has been litigious regarding Fortitude. In 2023, he sued Martin Scorsese, alleging that the director pocketed $500,000 to serve as an executive producer on the project but did nothing to move it forward. Scorsese’s team countersued, arguing that Afram was inexperienced and misunderstood the lengthy development process. The lawsuit was settled out of court a year later.
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