Netflix is used to fighting online movie thieves, but this time the fallout comes from physical theft. Writer and producer Simon Afram and his production company Op-Fortitude are suing Netflix for $105 million in damages after a master copy of the upcoming Nicolas Cage World War II movie Fortitude was stolen from the streaming giant’s Los Angeles office.
What happened
According to the lawsuit, Netflix acknowledged the theft on June 25 — ten days after an unencrypted copy of Fortitude arrived at the office for a screening, along with a warning to delete the files afterward. The plaintiffs claim Netflix refused to say whether it had reported the theft to the police and later declined the creators’ request to involve law enforcement. A Hollywood Reporter source says several drives were taken, though only one contained any actual footage.
Op-Fortitude argues the incident makes the film much harder to sell: any distributor would need to be told about the theft and would likely factor it into acquisition, insurance, and marketing decisions.
Netflix’s response
Netflix rejects the lawsuit, claiming that Fortitude arrived at its LA office “without the proper industry-standard safeguards.” The company has not shared details of its own investigation, but it characterized Afram’s pre-suit $165 million demand as a “hostile attempt to extort money” rather than a good-faith negotiation.
Netflix says it is taking “extra measures” to support Op-Fortitude, including monitoring piracy sites for bootleg copies.
What is Fortitude about?
Fortitude is a based-on-a-true-story World War II thriller that follows British intelligence officers as they attempt to mislead German leadership. It’s inspired by the real Operation Fortitude, the deception campaign that helped conceal the Allied plans for D-Day.
Cage reunites with Con Air director Simon West, the filmmaker behind hits such as Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, The General’s Daughter, and The Expendables 2. The cast also includes Matthew Goode (The Imitation Game), Ed Skrein (Deadpool), Alice Eve (Star Trek Into Darkness), and Jordi Mollà (Blow).
Theft of physical master copies is rare these days. Most modern leaks are digital and usually the work of insiders rather than burglars. The Fortitude case stands out precisely because it involves a high-profile film stolen from a major company without the usual safeguards in place. Award-season screeners, for example, are sent to voters with encryption specifically to prevent easy bootlegging — it’s unclear why similar protection wasn’t applied here.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
