Netflix sued for $105m over stolen Nicolas Cage war thriller
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- Netflix is being sued for $105m over the theft of a hard drive from its Los Angeles office containing an unreleased Nicolas Cage WWII spy thriller called "Fortitude."
- The film's producers claim Netflix's mishandling has put their $45m+ investment at risk, jeopardizing future sales, international release, and the planned awards campaign.
- Netflix disputes liability, saying it doesn't own the rights to Fortitude and the digital copy was delivered without industry-standard safeguards; the company says it investigated and offered to monitor piracy sites.
- Sean Berney, Netflix's head of film acquisitions, called it a first for the company to be targeted by such a theft, with piracy teams put on "high alert" following the breach.
- Netflix is accused of failing to disclose whether a police report was initially filed and later declining the filmmakers' request to involve LAPD after they filed their own report.
- Fortitude, directed by Simon West (Tomb Raider), stars Cage alongside Matthew Goode, Michael Sheen, and Ben Kingsley; Martin Scorsese was previously attached but was sued over a $500,000 payment from screenwriter Simon Afram in a dispute that was later settled.
Why it matters: Netflix faces $105m in liability for a film it doesn't own the rights to, with producers arguing the streamer's mishandling — including no initial police report — has jeopardized a $45m+ investment and the film's planned international release and awards campaign.
