ENTERTAINMENT

Los Angeles producer sues Netflix over stolen film

PUBLISHED Jul 30, 2026, 9:21 PM ET

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LOS ANGELES — A British production company has filed a federal lawsuit in California seeking $105 million in damages from Netflix over the alleged mishandling and theft of an unreleased World War II film starring Nicolas Cage. The film, titled Fortitude and directed by Simon West, cost more than $45 million to produce and features an ensemble cast including Ben Kingsley, Ron Perlman, Matthew Goode, Michael Sheen, and Alice Eve. According to the complaint, producer Op-Fortitude provided Netflix with an unencrypted digital cinema package copy of the movie on June 16, which the company stored on hard drives at a Netflix office. LOS ANGELES — Nine days after delivery, a Netflix executive emailed the producers with the subject line “Stolen DCP,” stating that a quantity of hard drives had been taken from office desks during the week and suggesting the theft appeared motivated by scrap value. Netflix offered to reimburse the cost of the physical hardware, but Op-Fortitude argues that the loss of control over the unreleased work destroyed the film’s market exclusivity and calculates potential damages based on a valuation of $112.5 million. Netflix disputes liability, contending that the producers delivered the film without industry-standard safeguards and accusing the plaintiffs’ lawyers of pursuing an inflated and improper demand.

By Emily Rhodes | JQJO News

Timeline of Events

On July 16, 2023 Simon Afram sued director Martin Scorsese over production disputes.
On December 2025 Netflix executives received promotional materials regarding the film Fortitude.
On June 16, 2026 an unencrypted digital cinema package was delivered to Netflix.
On June 25, 2026 Netflix notified producers that office hard drives were stolen.
On July 30, 2026 Op-Fortitude filed a federal lawsuit against Netflix in California.
On July 30, 2026 Netflix publicly disputed liability and cited lack of standard safeguards.
On July 31, 2026 media outlets widely reported the multi-million dollar legal complaint.
On July 31, 2026 Netflix offered to monitor piracy websites for any unauthorized leaks.
On July 31, 2026 security analysts reviewed corporate physical asset protection protocols within streaming offices.
In future months courts will evaluate digital delivery negligence and liability claims.
In future years studios may enforce stricter digital rights management transfer protocols.
In future legal proceedings courts will determine proper market valuation for leaked assets.

News Intelligence

Netflix faces a major lawsuit over physical workplace security lapses.
Streaming platforms may face stricter compliance mandates for physical media assets.
Independent filmmakers, major streaming services, legal analysts, and entertainment investors.
Prioritize official court documents over corporate statements across media coverage.

Media Bias

Articles Published:: 21
Right Leaning:: 0
Left Leaning:: 0
Neutral:: 21

Explain Framing

Left: Highlight corporate security negligence and asset protection failures by streaming giants. Center: Report legal filings objectively while detailing arguments from both conflicting parties. Right: Emphasize private contract accountability, standard industry safeguards, and petitioner overreach claims.