LOS ANGELES — Simon Afram and his company, Op-Fortitude, filed a lawsuit against Netflix on June 25, 2025. The lawsuit seeks $105 million in damages from Netflix.

The complaint alleges that an unencrypted digital cinema package of the film Fortitude was stolen from Netflix's Los Angeles office. Los Angeles is seat of Los Angeles County, and largest city in California, United States. The lawsuit claims the theft has jeopardized the film's international release strategy and awards campaign.

The digital cinema package was hand-delivered to Netflix's Hollywood headquarters on June 15, 2025. Associate producer Daniel Haido delivered the unencrypted master copy of the film to Netflix. Netflix executives screened the film on June 16, 2025. The producers instructed Netflix to delete the files after the internal screening.

Sean Berney, Netflix's director of original film, emailed the producers on June 25, 2025, stating that hard drives had been stolen from office desks. Sean Berney is identified as Netflix's head of film acquisitions. This is a first for us. Unfortunately, someone stole a good amount of drives from our office desks this past week. We’ve been working through this with our security teams to no luck, Berney said.

An investigation concluded that other stolen drives were empty, though the copy of Fortitude had not been recovered. The lawsuit claims Netflix failed to disclose whether a police report was filed regarding the theft. The complaint also claims Netflix declined a request by the filmmakers to involve the Los Angeles Police Department after the filmmakers filed their own report.

Netflix stated it disputes any claim that it bears the risk of loss for a film delivered without proper industry-standard safeguards. It stated it does not own the rights to Fortitude but is conducting a thorough investigation and offering to monitor known piracy sites. It stated it declined to share investigation details with Afram's law firm due to hostile attempts to extort money, including an initial demand for $165 million.

Fortitude is a World War II espionage thriller with a production budget of $45 million. The film's plot centers on Dusko Popov, a real-life World War II spy. Fortitude stars Nicolas Cage, Ben Kingsley, Matthew Goode, Michael Sheen, and Ron Perlman.

The film is directed by Simon West. Martin Scorsese was previously attached to direct the film. Simon Afram financed the film personally and spent seven years bringing it to the screen.

I spent seven years of my life bringing this incredible true story to the screen. But this film was never mine alone. It belongs to the extraordinary cast and their performances of a lifetime that deserve to be seen and recognized, Afram said.

The resulting damage to plaintiffs is profound. Through its mishandling of the film and subsequent dismissiveness, Netflix has jeopardized plaintiffs’ investment of over $45m and the significant value of the film itself.

The lawsuit shows a dispute over security protocols for unreleased film materials delivered to major streaming platforms. The case involves a high-profile production with a reported budget of $45 million and a cast of established actors. An investigation determined that while other drives taken in the same incident were empty, the copy of Fortitude was not recovered. The plaintiffs state that the loss of the unencrypted digital cinema package has disrupted planned international distribution and awards eligibility efforts.