The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating the disappearance of the Nicolas Cage film "Fortitude" from Netflix, according to reports. Simon Afram, the screenwriter, producer, and financier of the World War II thriller, personally filed a police report after the unreleased movie vanished from Netflix's Hollywood headquarters approximately two months ago.
Afram's report alleges that an unencrypted master copy of the $45 million film was stolen from an office desk at Netflix along with other drives. He filed the report after it was unclear if Netflix had notified law enforcement. Netflix has not commented on whether the LAPD was contacted by the company.
The incident is detailed in a $105 million lawsuit filed by Afram against Netflix, which accuses the streaming service of "careless and negligent treatment" of the film. An email from a Netflix executive to "Fortitude" producers, included as an exhibit in the lawsuit, acknowledged that the movie was "stolen" and described the situation as a "breach."
In the email, the Netflix staffer wrote, "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. Our piracy teams are on high alert with the breach and will monitor."
Filmmakers associated with "Fortitude" are also reportedly unaware if Netflix has filed an insurance claim for the missing film, which disappeared between June 16 and June 25. Netflix has stated that it conducted its own investigation and declined to share the results with the filmmakers, citing their alleged "hostile attempts to extort money."
Netflix has disputed claims that it bears responsibility for the loss, stating in a prior statement to Page Six Hollywood, "Netflix 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."
Afram's lawsuit, however, counters Netflix's assertion that proper safeguards were not used. The suit claims that associate producer Daniel Haido hand-delivered an unencrypted Digital Cinema Package (DCP) of the film to Netflix at the streamer's request, a standard practice when distributors are considering a film purchase. Haido allegedly provided explicit verbal and written instructions that the files be deleted after the screening.
Filmmakers within the industry have expressed concern over the incident, noting the commonality of DCPs in the independent film sales process and the significant financial implications of a pre-release film theft.