The makers of Fortitude say their $45m investment is now at risk after a hard drive containing the unreleased Nicolas Cage war thriller was stolen from Netflix’s Los Angeles office, and they have sued the streamer for $105m.
According to the complaint, the theft involved multiple hard drives and one contained a copy of the London-set second world war espionage film. The producers allege Netflix accepted a digital copy in June after expressing interest in promotional materials late last year, and that the company was instructed to delete the files after internal screening.
Netflix has disputed that it bears responsibility for the loss of a film delivered without industry-standard safeguards, and said it does not own the rights to Fortitude. The company said it has conducted an investigation and offered to monitor known piracy sites for any unauthorised distribution or sale, while providing support to the filmmakers, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The lawsuit accuses Netflix of failing to disclose whether a police report was initially filed and of later declining the filmmakers’ request to involve the Los Angeles police department after they filed their own report. The complaint, reported by Page Six, says the theft has jeopardised any future sale, international release strategy and awards campaign for the film.
Fortitude stars Nicolas Cage alongside Matthew Goode, Michael Sheen and Ben Kingsley, and is directed by Simon West. The project previously attracted controversy when Martin Scorsese was at one point attached and later became the subject of a separate lawsuit alleging he received $500,000 from first-time writer Simon Afram to help develop the film, a case that was settled. Afram said he spent seven years bringing the true story to the screen and that the film belongs to its cast and creators.
The lawsuit seeks $105m in damages and claims profound harm to the plaintiffs’ investment and the film’s commercial and awards prospects. Netflix says its piracy teams are monitoring the breach and investigations remain under way, while the filmmakers argue the theft has halted the film’s path to market.
