Overview
- Producer Simon Afram and his company Op‑Fortitude filed a federal suit in late July seeking at least $105 million, saying Netflix lost an unencrypted master of the World War II thriller Fortitude delivered for a private screening.
- Afram says he personally delivered a hard drive containing the Digital Cinema Package to Netflix’s Sunset Bronson Studios and asked staff to delete the files after viewing; the complaint says the drive was among a number of hard drives later reported stolen.
- Netflix has denied it accepts liability for content provided without industry-standard security, says it conducted an internal review and offered to monitor piracy sites for unauthorized copies, and reports cited by trade press say other stolen drives were found empty.
- The producers say Netflix refused to disclose whether it reported the theft to law enforcement or let the filmmakers involve the LAPD, and they have paused distribution talks because the loss could affect acquisition deals, insurance and awards strategies.
- Fortitude is a high-budget film directed by Simon West and starring Nicolas Cage that took years and more than $45 million to complete, and the lawsuit raises broader questions about how unencrypted DCPs are handled and who bears the risk when they are shared for buyer screenings.