The first trailer for Fortitude is out, and it’s built around a real piece of spy history: Nicolas Cage plays Dusko Popov, the WWII double agent widely credited as Ian Fleming’s inspiration for James Bond. The trailer leans into the connection directly, with Cage’s Popov ordering a martini shaken, not stirred.
What the Film Is Actually About
Fortitude is named for the real Allied deception campaign that helped mask the true location of the D-Day invasion, using fake tanks and troop positions near Pas-de-Calais to pull German attention away from Normandy. Popov’s espionage work fits into that larger operation, giving the film a specific historical hook beyond just being a Bond origin story.
A Cast Built Around the History
Michael Sheen plays Winston Churchill and Art Malik plays Ian Fleming himself, putting the real-life author who fictionalized Popov directly into the story. Ron Perlman plays Gen. George S. Patton, with Ben Kingsley, Ed Skrein, Matthew Goode, Jordi Mollá and Alice Eve rounding out the cast.
Why There’s Still No Distributor
Fortitude doesn’t have a distributor or release date yet, and there’s a specific, unusual reason for that. Netflix had been considering the film and was sent a hard drive with an unencrypted master copy for screening, but within about ten days the drive was reported stolen from the streamer’s own offices. A Netflix executive acknowledged the theft in writing: “Someone stole a good amount of drives from our office desks this past week.” The filmmakers are now suing Netflix for $105 million, arguing the leak destroyed the film’s exclusivity and its marketability to other buyers; Netflix disputes responsibility and says the production didn’t follow industry-standard security practices. Marketing has been paused while the suit plays out.
Behind the Camera
Simon West directs from a script credited to Afram, reuniting West with Cage after Con Air and this year’s Stolen. Cage is also attached to return for National Treasure 3, part of a busy stretch of announced projects for the actor.
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