NFLX · News · 20260805N

Litigation and Legal Risk

NETFLIX INC · 2026-08-05 · 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

• Op-Fortitude and writer-producer Simon Afram are suing Netflix for $105 million over a missing hard drive containing their unreleased WWII espionage film "Fortitude," alleging Netflix requested encryption be disabled and failed to return or secure the drive. source