Producer sues Netflix for $105M over Fortitude theft

A film producer is suing Netflix for $105 million, alleging the streaming giant's negligence led to the theft of an unreleased Nicolas Cage movie from its Los Angeles offices, destroying the film's commercial value. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in California on July -29, 2026, by writer-producer Simon Afram and his company OpFortitude, the entity behind the World War II spy thriller "Fortitude."

According to the legal complaint, an associate producer hand-delivered an unencrypted digital copy of the film to Netflix's Los Angeles office on June 15, 2026, so the company could screen it as a potential buyer. The plaintiffs state they instructed Netflix to delete the files after viewing. Instead, on June 25, Netflix executive Sean Berney informed the filmmakers via email that "someone stole a good amount of drives from our office desks this past week," including the one containing "Fortitude." Berney described the incident as a first for the company and said security teams had been unable to recover the drives.

The lawsuit contends the film's value, built over seven years with a production budget exceeding $45 million, was fundamentally tied to its exclusivity as an...