UPDATE: The producer of the World War II spy thriller Fortitude has added a claim of defamation to his lawsuit against Netflix over the theft of the hard drive of the upcoming film after it was delivered to the streamer’s headquarters for screening and possible purchase.
In the lawsuit, Simon Afram, the producer, writer and financier, and production company Op-Fortitude Limited claim they had an unencrypted digital cinema package of the film delivered to Netflix for a potential purchase, with the instruction to delete the files after screening.
The lawsuit claims that after screening the film around June 16, a Netflix executive informed the film’s producers that the DCP files were stolen, but that the company declined to provide other information.
In the lawsuit filed last week, Afram and Op-Fortitude, claimed, among other things, breach of implied contract. Now they have added defamation to the lawsuit.
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Their legal team points to Netflix’s statement in response to the initial lawsuit filing, in which a spokesperson stated that they “have declined to share anything about our ongoing investigation with the law firm representing Simon Afram, given their hostile attempts to extort money from Netflix over this situation — including immediately demanding $165 million for the film rather than work with us in good faith.”
The producer’s legal team wrote in the amended lawsuit, “In fact, Mr. Afram and his counsel made no immediate demand for payment for the lost Film. Instead, after being informed by Netflix of the theft on June 25, 2026, the first letter from Plaintiffs’ counsel to Netflix on June 29, 2026, merely asked for information and a meeting with Netflix. It did not demand any specified amount of money.”
They claimed that on June 30, Netflix refused to cooperate with information about the theft, and it was only after that when the producer’s attorney sent a letter on July 1 seeking “$165 million in compensation for the loss of the Film and its exclusive and first-to market status.”
“Rather than addressing the consequences of its own negligence or recklessness, Netflix responded to Mr. Afram’s reasonable requests for information and remediation by accusing him of a serious crime,” per the amended complaint.
A Netflix spokesperson said that they had no comment beyond their initial statement. Netflix also said last week that they dispute “any claim that it bears the risk of loss for a film delivered without the proper industry-standard safeguards. 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.”
The film, directed by Simon West, is based on the true story of British Intelligence operatives using unprecedented strategic operations to fool Nazi leadership and help change the course of World War II. The cast includes Nicolas Cage as Dusko Popov, a real-life double agent who is said to have inspired Ian Fleming’s James Bond character, as well as Matthew Goode, Ben Kingsley, Ron Perlman and Michael Sheen.
PREVIOUSLY: The producer behind the World War II spy thriller Fortitude has filed suit against Netflix, claiming that it bears responsibility for the theft of the hard drive of the upcoming film after it was delivered to the streamer’s headquarters for screening and possible purchase.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles seeks damages of at least $105 million.
In the complaint (read it here), Simon Afram, the producer, writer and financier, and production company Op-Fortitude Limited claim they had an unencrypted digital cinema package of the film delivered to Netflix for a potential purchase, with the instruction to delete the files after screening.
The lawsuit claims that after screening the film around June 16, Netflix “failed to provide the promised instructions for picking up the unencrypted DCP for over a week. Instead, on the afternoon of June 25, 2026, a Netflix executive emailed Plaintiffs with the subject line ‘Stolen PCP,’ referring to Plaintiffs’ unencrypted DCP, and wrote, ‘someone stole a good amount of drives from our office desks this past week.’”
The Netflix executive said that they had been working with security teams with “no luck” but that piracy teams were “on high alert,’ according to the lawsuit.
“Netflix’s email indicated that Netflix had known about the theft of the DCP for potentially a full week without ever advising Plaintiffs that Netflix had allowed Plaintiffs’ DCP, which cost over $45 million to make, to be stolen right off a Netflix desk.”
The executive assured that the stolen drive likely would be “sold for scrap given that they require” a key to unlock an encrypted DCP, according to the lawsuit. But, Afram claimed, “Netflix knew the DCP was unencrypted and could be opened, viewed, published, copied or distributed without any key.”
The lawsuit also claims that Netflix has refused to disclose whether it filed a police report or whether it had enlisted the help of a law enforcement agency. The lawsuit says that on Tuesday, Netflix refused the producer’s request to involve “the Los Angeles Police Department, with which Plaintiffs had filed a report regarding the theft, in Netflix’s private investigation of the theft.”
The film, directed by Simon West, is based on the true story of British Intelligence operatives using unprecedented strategic operations to fool Nazi leadership and help change the course of World War II. The cast includes Nicolas Cage as Dusko Popov, a real-life double agent who is said to have inspired Ian Fleming’s James Bond character, as well as Matthew Goode, Ben Kingsley, Ron Perlman and Michael Sheen.
A Netflix spokesperson said that the company “disputes any claim that it bears the risk of loss for a film delivered without the proper industry-standard safeguards. 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. This includes conducting a thorough investigation and offering to monitor known piracy sites for any unauthorized distribution or sale. We have declined to share anything about our ongoing investigation with the law firm representing Simon Afram, given their hostile attempts to extort money from Netflix over this situation — including immediately demanding $165 million for the film rather than work with us in good faith.”
A source at the company says that they have seen no evidence that the film has been leaked.
The lawsuit claims conversion, breach of bailment contract and breach of implied contract.
Neville Johnson of Johnson & Johnson LLP represented the plaintiffs.
