NFLX · News · 20260804N

Litigation and Legal Risk

NETFLIX INC · 2026-08-04 · Importance 31 · Surprise 42

Writer-producer Simon Afram and production company Op-Fortitude are suing Netflix for $105 million over the alleged theft and mishandling of hard drives containing the unreleased $45 million Nicolas Cage film "Fortitude." The claims include breach of contract and alleged failure to protect confidential master copies after the drive was reportedly taken from Netflix’s Hollywood headquarters. Afram separately filed a defamation claim, alleging Netflix knowingly accused his lawyers of making "hostile attempts to extort money"; Netflix denies liability and characterizes the litigation as an extortion attempt.

Key facts

• A billionaire writer-producer, Simon Afram, filed a defamation lawsuit against Netflix seeking $105 million in damages related to allegations about the theft of an unreleased Nicolas Cage film. source
• Netflix stated that Afram's legal team made "hostile attempts to extort money" after the theft of hard drives containing his unreleased $45 million Nicolas Cage film "Fortitude" from Netflix's headquarters. source