Netflix Sued After Hard Drive of Unreleased Nicholas Cage Movie Stolen

The streaming conglomerate Netflix has been slapped with a $105 million lawsuit after the hard drive for an unreleased Nicholas Cage movie was stolen from his office. Filed Thursday in California federal court, the lawsuit from writer/producer Simon Afram and his company, Op-Fortitude, alleged that Netflix stifled “the sale of the World War II spy thriller by losing a copy of the movie that was shared for screening,” per The Hollywood Reporter (THR). Netflix executives first expressed interest in purchasing Fortitude after receiving promotional materials in December 2025, requesting a working cut in June. According to the lawsuit, Netflix instructed the filmmakers to provide the key to what’s called a digital cinema package — a vehicle through which films are delivered for screening that limits unauthorized access — so the company could internally test the movie. On June 15, a producer for Fortitude hand-delivered the drive to Netflix’s office at Sunset Bronson Studios. The producer allegedly told Netflix that the DCP was unencrypted and instructed the company to delete the files after the screening before notifying him when the drive was ready to be picked up. Ten days later, a Netflix executive disclosed that it was stolen, according to the complaint. A source confirmed to THR it was an unencrypted master copy of the film, titled Fortitude, that was one of several drives stolen from Netflix’s office last month. Netflix disputed the claim in a statement. “Netflix disputes any claim that it bears the risk of loss for a film delivered without the proper industry-standard safeguards,” a company spokesperson said in a statement. “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.” In an email dated June 25, Sean Berney, Netflix’s head of film acquisitions, said that that “someone stole a good amount of drives from our office desks this past week.” “We’ve been working through this with out security teams to no luck. Our piracy teams are on high alert with the breach and will monitor,” Berney added in the email. The lawsuit seeks $105 million in damages, alleging that Netflix did not disclosed if it filed a police report to investigate the alleged theft. Netflix, however, said it refused to share details of the investigation after Afram demanded $165 million for the movie in a “hostile attempt to extort money.” Due to the theft, the lawsuit claims that the sale of the film has been tampered since producers would have to disclose the theft to distributors.