RismadarVoice Reporters, July 31, 2026
Netflix is facing a $105 million lawsuit after an unreleased Nicolas Cage film was allegedly stolen from its Hollywood studio, with the producer claiming the incident has destroyed the movie’s commercial value.
The lawsuit, filed in California on Wednesday, was brought by producer Simon Afram, who alleged that an unencrypted master copy of the World War II drama Fortitude disappeared from Netflix’s offices shortly after it was delivered to the streaming giant.
According to court documents, Afram had invested more than $45 million in the film, which took seven years to complete, and was negotiating to sell it to Netflix or another distributor.
The suit states that the filmmakers delivered the master copy to Netflix in June at the company’s request. Nine days later, Netflix allegedly informed them via email that several hard drives had been stolen from employees’ desks, including the one containing Fortitude.
Afram argued that the theft has effectively rendered the film unsellable, as distributors would be reluctant to invest millions of dollars in a project that could potentially be leaked online through piracy.
The lawsuit accuses Netflix of failing to adequately secure the hard drive and seeks at least $105 million in damages.
“It is not fathomable that a sophisticated buyer would invest tens of millions of dollars to acquire the film and tens of millions more to market it while facing the constant risk that it could appear online to be viewed widely for free at any time,” the lawsuit stated.
Reacting to the legal action, Netflix denied liability, maintaining that the producer delivered the film without standard industry security protections.
In a statement, the company said it “disputes any claim that it bears the risk of loss for a film delivered without the proper industry-standard safeguards.”
Netflix added that although it does not own the rights to Fortitude, it has taken the matter seriously by investigating the theft and monitoring piracy websites for any unauthorised release of the film.
The streaming company also accused Afram’s legal team of attempting to pressure Netflix financially instead of cooperating in resolving the issue.
The case is expected to proceed before a California court.
