A burglary at Netflix's Los Angeles office led to the disappearance of a copy of an unreleased film, followed by a multimillion-dollar lawsuit. The producers of the spy thriller 'Fortitude,' starring Nicolas Cage, initiated a $105 million damages lawsuit against Netflix in California federal court.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the lawsuit was filed by the film's screenwriter and producer, Swiss businessman Simon Afram, and his company Op-Fortitude. It is claimed that the producers delivered the disc containing the film to Netflix's Los Angeles office on June 15 and requested that it be deleted immediately after viewing. However, a few days later, thieves who broke into the office stole several discs from desks, including the copy of 'Fortitude.'
Netflix's head of film acquisition, Sean Burney, said the company had never experienced such a theft before, and that the security team was unable to find the thieves. The producers, however, claimed that Netflix refused to disclose whether it had contacted the police and turned down their request to involve the Los Angeles Police Department. The court filing states that the theft of the disc significantly complicates the potential sale of the film to a distributor.
In a statement, Netflix said: "We are not responsible for films delivered without appropriate security measures. Although we do not own the rights to 'Fortitude,' we take content security seriously and have taken additional steps to support the director and his team. This includes conducting a thorough investigation and offering to monitor known piracy sites to detect any unauthorized distribution or sale of the film."
The film 'Fortitude' is set in London and tells the story of British intelligence agents who altered the course of World War II. Alongside Nicolas Cage, the cast includes Matthew Goode, Michael Sheen, and Ben Kingsley. The film's budget was announced as $45 million.
Variety magazine noted that the film has had a 'difficult fate.' In 2023, producer Simon Afram sued acclaimed director Martin Scorsese. Afram claimed that Scorsese received $500,000 as an executive producer of the film but did nothing to get the production started. Scorsese's lawyers countersued, arguing that Afram, being 'new' to the industry, had 'unrealistic expectations.' The parties later reached a settlement.
