It was the type of transfer that happens daily around town during a movie sale process. In order to properly review the goods, studios require a version suitable for projecting in a commercial theatre, known as a digital cinema package.<\/p>\n
The film, titled Fortitude, marked a seven-year journey from inception to finished product that included the typical roadblocks and detours. <\/p>\n
The plot centres on the character of Dusko Popov, a real-life World War II spy and playboy who served as the inspiration for Ian Fleming\u2019s James Bond novels. At one point, Martin Scorsese was flirting with directing writer Simon Afram\u2019s screenplay as a Leonardo DiCaprio star vehicle. <\/p>\n
But instead of Scorsese and DiCaprio, a different director-star Fortitude package emerged when Oscar winner Cage re-teamed with his Con Air director, Simon West. The film cost $45 million to produce and was personally financed by Afram, a Swiss billionaire who also produced Fortitude.<\/p>\n
Netflix executives screened the film on June 16, one day after it was delivered.<\/p>\n
But nine days after that, Netflix Original Film director Sean Berney acknowledged that the digital cinema package [DCP] for Fortitude had been stolen \u2014 according to a lawsuit that has been filed in federal court in California\u2019s Central District.<\/p>\n
Afram is suing Netflix for $105 million for breach of contract.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit includes a June 25 email from Berney to two parties involved with the film.<\/p>\n
Berney wrote, according to an email that was included as an exhibit in the legal filing, \u201cThis is a first for us. Unfortunately, someone stole a good amount of drives from our office desks this past week. We\u2019ve been working through this with our security teams to no luck. Our piracy teams are on high alert with the breach and will monitor, but they are likely just selling the drives for scrap given they would require a [key delivery message]. We will of course create a new DCP or reimburse you for this missing drive. Apologies again and here to answer anything further and or connect you with our security teams.\u201d<\/p>\n
Netflix was essentially offering the filmmakers a service valued at about $800 for a missing $45 million film.<\/p>\n
It is unclear what other projects were compromised and remain at large. (And the complaint doesn\u2019t note whether the master was the only copy of the film.) <\/p>\n
A Netflix source says that the additional missing drives were empty and did not include any content on them.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The lawsuit states: \u201cNetflix\u2019s 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\u201d Fortitude\u2019s DCP \u201cto be stolen right off a Netflix desk.\u201d<\/p>\n
Afram is being repped by attorneys Caroline Mankey and Christopher McAndrew at Akerman and Neville Johnson and Hyura Choi at Johnson and Johnson.<\/p>\n
The film, which is described in the complaint as \u201ctonally in the vein of Ocean\u2019s Eleven meets Inglorious Basterds,\u201d also stars Ben Kingsley and Ron Perlman. The supporting cast includes Matthew Goode, Michael Sheen, Art Malik, Jordi Moll\u00e0 and Lukas Haas, as well as Ed Skrein, Alice Eve, Paul Anderson and Emilio Sakraya.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe resulting damage to Plaintiffs is profound,\u201d the lawsuit says. \u201cThrough its mishandling of the Film and subsequent dismissiveness, Netflix has jeopardised Plaintiffs\u2019 investment of over $45 million and the significant value of the Film itself. Netflix has also deprived the Film, its cast, and its creators of the opportunity to bring their work to market and receive recognition that a properly marketed worldwide release likely would have generated.<\/p>\n
Netflix provided Page Six with a comment.<\/p>\n
\u201cNetflix 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 \u2018Fortitude,\u2019 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 unauthorised 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 \u2013 including immediately demanding $165 million for the film rather than work with us in good faith.\u201d<\/p>\n
Afram\u2019s lawyers arrived at the $105 million figure based on \u201cthe early interest from studios and distributors, the film\u2019s high test scores in consumer screen testing, feedback from sales agents, the genre of the film, and other factors, the film can be conservatively estimated to at least break even, which in the motion picture industry translates to revenues of at least 2.5 times the production budget, or $112,500,000,\u201d according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n
In a statement to Page Six, Afram says: \u201cI 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 recognised. It represents the moment these artists have earned.\u201d<\/p>\n
This story originally appeared on Page Six<\/a> and is republished here with permission.<\/p>\n