Netflix sued for $105m over alleged loss of unreleased Nicolas Cage film
A man takes a photograph next to a Netflix logo during an event in Mumbai, India, February 3, 2026. PHOTO: Reuters
A UK-based production company and a filmmaker have filed a $105 million lawsuit against Netflix, alleging the streaming platform lost a drive containing the only master copy of the unreleased film Fortitude, damaging the project's commercial value.
According to the complaint, filed in a California district court, associate producer Daniel Haido personally delivered an unencrypted master copy of the film to Netflix for a private screening while the company considered acquiring distribution rights.
The lawsuit alleges that Haido verbally instructed a Netflix employee to delete the files after the screening had taken place. However, just over a week later, Netflix reportedly informed the filmmakers that the drive had been stolen.
According to the complaint, a Netflix executive wrote in an email, "Someone stole a good amount of drives from our office desks this past week."
The plaintiffs claim Fortitude took more than seven years to produce and cost approximately $45 million. The World War II espionage drama centres on Operation Fortitude, the Allied deception campaign designed to mislead Nazi Germany about the location of the D-Day invasion.
The film stars Nicolas Cage as real-life double agent Dusko Popov and also features Sir Ben Kingsley and Ron Perlman.
The lawsuit argues that the loss of control over the unreleased film has significantly reduced its commercial prospects. The plaintiffs claim potential buyers may be discouraged from acquiring distribution rights because an unauthorised copy could surface online.
"The film's value depended in significant part on its exclusivity as an unreleased, first-to-market work," the complaint states. "By losing control of the film, Netflix destroyed that exclusivity and materially, if not completely, impaired the film's marketability."
Netflix has disputed the allegations. A company spokesperson said it "disputes any claim that it bears the risk of loss for a film delivered without the proper industry-standard safeguards."
The spokesperson added that Netflix has offered to monitor piracy websites for any unauthorised distribution or sale of Fortitude and said, "While we do not own the rights to 'Fortitude,' we take content security seriously and have taken extra measures to support the filmmaker and his team."