ALBAWABA - Netflix is being sued for $105 million following the theft of a hard drive containing an unreleased Nicolas Cage war film.
The streamer's Los Angeles office was the victim of a heist involving several hard drives, one of which held a copy of the WWII spy thriller Fortitude.
The makers of the $45 million picture are now suing Netflix for the loss.
"Netflix disputes any claim that it bears the risk of loss for a film delivered without the proper industry-standard safeguards," a spokeswoman stated in a statement released to the Hollywood Reporter. "While we do not hold the rights to Fortitude, we take content security seriously and have taken extra precautions to assist the filmmaker and his team. This includes conducting an extensive investigation and offering to monitor known piracy sites for illicit distribution or sale."
Netflix apparently obtained a copy of the film in June after expressing interest in promotional materials at the end of the previous year. A digital copy was then sent so that the video could be watched internally, and the film's producers instructed Netflix to destroy the files afterwards.
In an email, Sean Berney, head of Netflix film acquisitions, stated that the company had never been the victim of such a heist before. “We’ve been working through this with our security teams to no luck,” he continued. “Our piracy teams are on high alert with the breach and will monitor.”
Netflix is accused of failing to reveal if a police complaint was initially filed and later denying the filmmakers' request to involve the LAPD after they filed their own report.
The lawsuit alleges that any future sales of the film are now in peril, with any worldwide release strategy and awards campaign halted.
"The resulting damage to plaintiffs is profound," the lawsuit stated, according to Page Six. "Through its mishandling of the film and subsequent dismissiveness, Netflix risked the plaintiffs' $45 million investment as well as the picture's enormous worth. Netflix has also denied the picture, its cast, and its producers the ability to bring their work to market and enjoy the exposure that a properly marketed global release would have provided."
Fortitude is a London-set espionage thriller about British intelligence operators who changed the course of WWII. Cage appears alongside Matthew Goode, Michael Sheen, and Ben Kingsley. The film is directed by Simon West, whose previous work includes Tomb Raider and The General's Daughter.
Martin Scorsese was once involved with the project, however he was later sued for allegedly taking $500,000 from first-time screenwriter Simon Afram to assist develop the film but failing to deliver. Scorsese’s lawyers called it a “classic example of the novice filmmaker who refuses to appreciate the stark difference between expectation and reality in the film-making business." It was eventually settled.
"I spent seven years of my life bringing this incredible true story to the screen," Afram explained in a statement. "However, this film was never mine alone. It is the great cast's lifelong performances that deserve to be seen and praised. It symbolizes the moment these artists have earned."
