Netflix sued for $105 million after unreleased Nicolas Cage thriller vanishes from its office
Netflix is facing a $105 million lawsuit after the master copy of an unreleased Nicolas Cage thriller disappeared from its Hollywood offices during acquisition talks.
Swiss billionaire Simon Afram, who wrote, financed and produced the $45 million film Fortitude, filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in late July, accusing Netflix of breach of contract and negligence.
Fortitude is a World War II spy thriller directed by Simon West, inspired by British intelligence that sought to deceive the Nazi leadership. The film stars Cage alongside Matthew Goode, Ed Skrein, Jordi Mollà and Alice Eve.
Afram spent seven years and $45 million to bring the project to the screen.
According to the lawsuit, the incident occurred while Netflix was evaluating Fortitude for acquisition. According to the complaint, an associate producer hand-delivered an unencrypted digital cinema package (DCP) of the film to Netflix’s Sunset Bronson Studios office on June 15 for screening.
The filmmakers say Netflix staff were instructed to delete the files after viewing the film and notify them once the hard drive was ready to be collected.
Roughly nine to ten days and several unanswered requests later, Netflix acquisitions executive Sean Berney emailed the team on June 25, stating that the hard drive had been stolen along with other equipment, calling it “a first for Netflix.”
In his complaint, Afram argues the theft has significantly reduced Fortitude‘s commercial value because any future distributor would have to disclose that an unsecured copy of the unreleased film had been stolen.
Afram estimates the film’s market value exceeds $112 million. Netflix, however, has denied responsibility and accused Afram’s legal team of attempting to pressure the company into a large payout.
“Netflix disputes any claim that it bears the risk of loss for a film delivered without the proper industry-standard safeguards,” a spokesperson for the streaming giant told The Hollywood Reporter.
“We have declined to share anything about our ongoing investigation with the law firm representing Simon 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,” the spokesperson added.
Netflix also noted that unreleased films are typically shared using password-protected streaming links or encrypted digital cinema packages, rather than unencrypted physical drives.
According to the complaint, Netflix had instead offered to conduct an internal DCP screening process, which would have cost roughly $800.
But this is not the first setback the movie has faced.
In 2023, Afram sued director Martin Scorsese, claiming the filmmaker had accepted $500,000 to serve as an executive producer but had done little to help move the project forward.
Scorsese’s legal team pushed back, arguing Afram had unrealistic expectations about the role. The dispute was settled out of court in 2024.
Before filing the lawsuit, Afram reportedly demanded $165 million from Netflix over the missing master copy. While Netflix has denied any wrongdoing, the case remains open.