Netflix is facing a $105 million lawsuit from a film producer who alleges the streaming giant misplaced a hard drive holding a copy of an unreleased Nicolas Cage movie, a loss he says damaged his chances of securing a sale for the project.
Producer Simon Afram and his company, Op-Fortitude, claim in a California legal filing submitted Thursday and reviewed by the Daily Mail that the hard drive contained an unencrypted master version of the film Fortitude and disappeared after being handed over to Netflix.
According to the complaint, Afram’s legal team says Netflix showed interest in assessing the Nicolas Cage film after receiving promotional materials, initially indicating in December 2025 that it wanted to review the movie before later requesting the unencrypted master copy in June.
The filing alleges that on June 15, associate producer Daniel Haido personally delivered the unencrypted master copy of Fortitude to Netflix’s Los Angeles office so the company could evaluate the film.
Netflix personnel were allegedly told to “ensure that it is deleted after the screening,” the lawsuit states.
The Daily Mail has contacted representatives for both Netflix and Afram’s attorneys seeking comment on the lawsuit.
Netflix is being sued for $105 million by a producer who says the company lost a hard drive containing an unreleased Nicolas Cage movie, Fortitude, hurting his ability to market and sell the film; Cage is pictured in May in New York City
A Netflix spokesperson told the Daily Mail on Thursday that the company rejects the allegations, saying: “Netflix disputes any claim that it bears the risk of loss for a film delivered without the proper industry-standard safeguards.
‘While we do not own the rights to Fortitude, we take content security seriously and have taken extra measures to support the filmmaker and his team. This includes conducting a thorough investigation and offering to monitor known piracy sites for any unauthorized distribution or sale.’
In a June 25 email, a Netflix executive allegedly informed Haido that the hard drive containing the movie had disappeared after ‘someone stole a good amount of drives from our office desks this past week,’ according to the filing.
Afram’s legal team said in the filing that ‘the film’s value depended in significant part on its exclusivity as an unreleased, first-to-market work,’ and ‘by losing control . . . Netflix destroyed that exclusivity and materially, if not completely, impaired the film’s marketability.
‘It is not fathomable that a sophisticated buyer would invest tens of millions of dollars to acquire the film – and tens of millions more to market it – while facing the constant risk that it could appear online to be viewed widely for free at any time,’ the complaint added.
Sources at Netflix told the Daily Mail that ‘it is standard practice for these films to be shared either via a secure password-protected link, or as a Digital Cinema Package (DCP) that is secured with what is known as a Key Delivery Message (KDM).’
‘These measures limit access and protect against unauthorized use or loss,’ they continued. ‘Unfortunately, the Fortitude producers elected to share an unencrypted DCP with us for screening.’
Lawyers for Afram claimed in the legal complaint that he had been operating in accordance with instructions from the streamer, as Netflix allegedly wrote, ‘If the DCP is encrypted, please have the keys open from the time the asset lands through EOD on 6/16.’
A spokesperson for Netflix told the Daily Mail in a statement Thursday, ‘Netflix disputes any claim that it bears the risk of loss for a film delivered without the proper industry-standard safeguards’; the Netflix building on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood is pictured in 2021
In a June 25 email, a Netflix executive allegedly informed associate producer Daniel Haido that a hard drive containing the film had disappeared after ‘someone stole a good amount of drives from our office desks this past week’; Cage is seen with his wife Riko Shibata in 2021
Netflix sources said that upon learning ‘that the DCP was missing,’ the company ‘notified appropriate parties including our internal security team and the Fortitude team.’
In the complaint, Afram said that the motion picture cost $45 million and took more than seven years to put together.
The movie’s storyline is inspired by a World War II mission conducted by Allied forces, Operation Fortitude, which involved ‘double agents in cooperation with the British Army and Allied Nations who set a trap against Adolf Hitler and his army,’ according to the court filing.
Fortitude, which was directed by Simon West, also stars Oscar winner Sir Ben Kingsley, Ron Perlman, Matthew Goode, Michael Sheen, Art Malik, Jordi Mollà, and Lukas Haas.
