Producer sues Netflix for $105 million over missing Nicolas Cage movie

A movie producer is seeking $105 million in damages from Netflix, alleging that a copy of his unreleased Nicolas Cage film, "Fortitude," was stolen from the streaming service's studios in Hollywood. Producer Simon Afram's attorneys filed a lawsuit in California, claiming that filmmakers delivered an unencrypted master copy of the World War II drama to Netflix in June at the company's request. Afram invested more than $45 million in the production, which spanned seven years. He was in the process of selling the movie to Netflix or another distributor when, nine days later, the producers received a Netflix email stating that "someone stole a good amount of drives from our desks this past week," including the one containing "Fortitude." The producers argue that the film's value has been "destroyed" because distributors are unlikely to acquire a movie that could potentially appear on piracy sites. They contend that Netflix should have implemented better security measures for the hard drive. "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. In response, Netflix issued a statement disputing the claim, asserting it "disputes any claim that it bears the risk of loss for a film delivered without the proper industry-standard safeguards." The company added that while it does not own the rights to "Fortitude," it takes content security seriously and has implemented extra measures to support the filmmaker. Netflix also mentioned it has been investigating the theft and monitoring piracy sites for unauthorized distribution, but declined to share investigation details with Afram's attorneys due to what it called "hostile attempts to extort money."

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someone stole a good amount of drives from our desks this past week