A movie producer has filed a $105 million lawsuit against Netflix, alleging that an unreleased Nicolas Cage film was stolen from the streaming giant’s Hollywood studios, severely damaging its commercial value.
According to a lawsuit filed on Wednesday in California, producer Simon Afram’s legal team said an unencrypted master copy of the World War II drama Fortitude was delivered to Netflix in June at the company’s request.
Afram, who invested more than $45 million in the project, spent seven years completing the film and was seeking to secure a distribution deal with either Netflix or another company.
The lawsuit states that nine days after the master copy was handed over, Netflix notified the filmmakers by email that the hard drive containing Fortitude had been stolen during a theft at its offices.
According to the court filing, the email read: “someone stole a good amount of drives from our desks this past week,” including the drive containing “Fortitude.”
The producers contend that the theft has effectively wiped out the film’s market value, arguing that distributors would be reluctant to purchase a movie that could surface on piracy websites before or after release.
They also accuse Netflix of failing to properly safeguard the hard drive entrusted to its care.
“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 lawsuit said.
Afram is seeking at least $105 million in damages from Netflix.
