Netflix faces $105 million lawsuit after unreleased Nicolas Cage movie was stolen
Netflix is no stranger to dealing with online movie thieves, but now it’s dealing with the fallout from physical theft. Writer and producer Simon Afram and his production company Op-Fortitude are suing Netflix for $105 million in damages after a master copy of the upcoming Nicolas Cage WWII movie Fortitude was stolen from the streaming giant’s Los Angeles office.
Afram’s firm claims in the lawsuit that Netflix acknowledged the theft on June 25, ten days after an unencrypted copy of Fortitude arrived for a screening with a warning to delete the files after. Netflix allegedly refused to say if it reported the theft to police and later declined the creators’ request to get help from law enforcement. Several drives were taken, according to a Hollywood Reporter source, but only one had any content.
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Two or four
Op-Fortitude believes the incident makes it harder to sell the movie, as any distributor would have to be told about the theft and likely factor that into the purchase, insurance, and marketing.
Netflix rejects the lawsuit in a statement, claiming that Fortitude came to the LA office “without the proper industry-standard safeguards.” Netflix isn’t sharing details of its own investigation, but the company characterized Afram’s pre-suit $165 million demand as a “hostile attempt to extort money” rather than a good-faith negotiation.
Netflix says it’s taking “extra measures” to support Op-Fortitude, including a watch on piracy sites for bootleg copies.
What is the movie Fortitude about?
The war thriller has a familiar director and a star-studded cast
Fortitude is a based-on-a-true-story World War II thriller that revolves around British intelligence agents’ efforts to confuse German leaders.
In Fortitude, Cage reunites with Con Air director Simon West. The veteran filmmaker is responsible for multiple hits, including the Angelina Jolie movie Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, John Travolta’s The General’s Daughter, and The Expendables 2.
Other known actors in Fortitude include Matthew Goode (The Imitation Game), Ed Skrein (Deadpool), Alice Eve (Star Trek Into Darkness), and Jordi Mollà (Blow).
It’s rare for physical master copies to be stolen. In the modern era, these incidents are more often digital and are typically the work of insiders rather than burglars. The Fortitude theft is unique in this light, as it’s a high-profile movie stolen from a major provider without the usual security in place. Many movies for the Oscars and other awards are sent to voters with encryption precisely to avoid easy bootlegging—it’s unclear why similar protection wasn’t present for Fortitude.
Source: THR
