LOS ANGELES, July 30 (Reuters) - A movie producer is seeking

$105 million in damages from Netflix ( NFLX ) after he says a

copy of his unreleased Nicolas Cage movie was stolen from the

streaming service's studios in Hollywood.

Attorneys for producer Simon Afram said in a lawsuit filed

on Wednesday in California that the filmmakers had delivered an

unencrypted master copy of the World War II drama "Fortitude" to

Netflix ( NFLX ) in June at the company's request. Afram invested more

than $45 million in the production, which took seven years to

complete, and he was in the process of trying to sell the movie

to Netflix ( NFLX ) or another distributor.

Nine days later, the plaintiffs were informed via a Netflix ( NFLX )

email that "someone stole a good amount of drives from our desks

this past week," including the one containing "Fortitude," the

lawsuit said.

The producers argue that the film's value has been

"destroyed" because distributors are unlikely to buy a film that

could appear on piracy sites. They said Netflix ( NFLX ) should have

better secured the hard drive.

"It is not fathomable that a sophisticated buyer would

invest tens of millions of dollars to acquire the film - and

tens of millions more to market it - while facing the constant

risk that it could appear online to be viewed widely for free at

any time," the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit asks for at least $105 million in damages.

In a statement, Netflix ( NFLX ) said it "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," including investigating the

theft and monitoring piracy sites for unauthorized distribution

of the film, the company said.

Netflix ( NFLX ) also said it had declined to share information from

the investigation with Afram's attorneys "given their hostile

attempts to extort money from Netflix ( NFLX ) over this situation ...

rather than work with us in good faith."