Man invested $45M in a Nicolas Cage movie. It got stolen off Netflix’s desk. - Ars Technica
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Netflix has been sued after admitting that an unencrypted drive containing an unreleased, hotly anticipated 2026 blockbuster starring Nicolas Cage was stolen from its offices.
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, Netflix was accused of waiting a week to warn the production company, Op-Fortitude, that the movie, Fortitude, was swiped, along with other drives that were “stolen right off a Netflix desk.”
“Someone stole a good amount of drives from our office desks this past week,” Sean Berney, director of Netflix Original Film, said in an email to a production company representative after several attempts to get Netflix to return the drives were allegedly ignored.
Rather than acknowledge the “profound and devastating loss” and likelihood that the movie might be leaked free online at any time, Berney apparently only offered that Netflix would pay for the missing drive. He also “erroneously” claimed that thieves would need a key to unlock the movie, even though Netflix had allegedly asked the production company to unlock the drive prior to delivering it.
Op-Fortitude and Simon Afram, the financier and filmmaker who paid $45 million to get the movie made, think Netflix failed to take basic security measures to prevent the unencrypted drive from being stolen. They’ve asked the court to rule that Netflix owes them “revenues of at least 2.5 times the production budget, or $112,500,000,” as well as other damages, including punitive damages, after allegedly implicitly breaching a contract to delete the screener files and promptly return the drive after viewing.
In response to the lawsuit, Netflix insists that it’s not liable for losing the drive, ruining the movie’s marketing strategy, or potentially making it easier to pirate the film. In fact, the company claims that Afram and the production company are attempting to use the lawsuit to extort money from Netflix, including by issuing a demand letter for $165 million.
In a statement to Ars, a Netflix spokesperson confirmed that none of the other lost drives contained any content. Only Fortitude could be accessed by thieves, solely due to the production company’s failure to encrypt the drive, the spokesperson alleged. It is not the only copy of the movie. And so far there’s no evidence it has been leaked, Netflix said.
“Netflix disputes any claim that it bears the risk of loss for a film delivered without the proper industry-standard safeguards,” Netflix’s spokesperson said. “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. 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.”
Netflix allegedly requested unencrypted screener
Afram was so passionate about telling the story of a real-life World War II spy who became the inspiration for Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels and films that he was willing to personally invest $45 million to make the biggest blockbuster he could.
It took seven years, but he made the movie, Fortitude, which he describes tonally as a cross between Ocean’s Eleven and Inglourious Basterds. Directed by Simon West, the film features Nicolas Cage and Sir Ben Kingsley leading an all-star ensemble cast. It follows double agents setting a trap for Adolf Hitler, and it was shot on 35-millimeter celluloid to make it look and feel like the time it represents, the complaint said.
With a cut of the movie finally available to preview and awards buzz already anticipated, Afram planned to sell exclusive first rights to the highest bidder and decided to show it to Netflix first.
“NOBODY has seen it yet, including any of the agencies, and worldwide rights are available,” a mid-June email to Netflix said.
This offer was so enticing that it generated an enthusiastic response “the very same day,” the complaint said. When Netflix sent instructions to share a screener, it allegedly told the production company to deliver it unlocked, meaning it remained unencrypted the entire time it was in Netflix’s possession.
“This timing allows us to test the content and ensure a...