A Cape Fear TV show is coming to Apple TV+, the streamer announced on Monday. The 10-episode series will be written by showrunner Nick Antosca and executive produced by Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg.
Javier Bardem, an executive producer on the series, will star as Max Cady.
Per Apple, “Cape Fear is a tense, Hitchcockian thriller and an examination of America’s obsession with true crime in the 21st century. A storm is coming for happily married attorneys Amanda and Steve Bowden when Max Cady (played by Bardem), a notorious killer from their past, gets out of prison.”
Cape Fear is based on John D. MacDonald’s 1957 novel The Executioners. The novel inspired 1962’s Cape Fear, with Gregory Peck as Sam Bowden and Robert Mitchum as Max Cady.
Scorsese famously adapted the novel for 1991’s Cape Fear, with Nick Nolte as Bowden and Robert De Niro as Cady. In one of the greatest movie swaps in Hollywood, Spielberg, who originally developed Cape Fear, traded the film to Scorsese in exchange for Schindler’s List. Spielberg won Best Picture and Best Director for Schindler’s List, while Scorsese’s Cape Fear garnered critical acclaim and grossed over $182 million against a $35 million budget.
1991’s Cape Fear starred Nick Nolte as Bowden, Robert De Niro as Cady, Jessica Lange as Leigh Bowden, and Juliette Lewis as Danny Bowden. De Niro and Lewis received Oscar nominations for their performances.
The Cape Fear TV show hails from UCP and Amblin Television. Additional executive producers include Antosca, Alex Hedlund, Daryl Frank, and Justin Falvey. Antosca is best known for creating Hulu’s Candy and Peacock’s A Friend of the Family.
