LOS ANGELES: A Nicolas Cage film lawsuit seeks at least $105 million from Netflix after a drive containing an unencrypted copy of the unreleased thriller Fortitude was allegedly stolen.
Producer Simon Afram and UK-based Op-Fortitude Ltd. filed the complaint on Wednesday in California federal court. They accused Netflix of conversion and breaching express and implied contracts.
The 16-page complaint said associate producer Daniel Haidt hand-delivered the digital cinema package to Netflix’s Sunset Bronson Studios on June 15. Netflix screened the film the following day as a potential buyer.
Haido told Netflix that the package was unencrypted and asked staff to delete the files after the screening, according to the filing.
On June 25, Netflix film executive Sean Berney informed the producers that several drives had been stolen from office desks. The complaint said the company had failed to arrange the drive’s return despite repeated requests.
Netflix denied responsibility for the alleged loss. It said the filmmakers delivered the movie without standard security safeguards.
The company said it conducted an investigation and offered to monitor piracy websites. It also accused Afram’s lawyers of demanding $165 million instead of working with Netflix “in good faith,” Variety reported.
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The producers claim the theft damaged the film’s marketability because prospective distributors must now consider the risk of an online leak. They seek at least $105 million in economic damages, along with punitive damages, interest and legal costs.
Afram said he invested more than $45 million and seven years in the production. The plaintiffs estimated that the film needed at least $112.5 million in revenue to break even.
Directed by Simon West, Fortitude stars Cage as Second World War spy Dusko Popov. Its cast also includes Ben Kingsley, Ron Perlman, Matthew Goode and Michael Sheen.
