Javier Bardem, the Academy Award-winning star of No Country For Old Men (and recent meme-lord thanks to Dune: Part Two), has signed on to play another psychopath, this time in the Apple TV+ reboot of Cape Fear. Martin Scorsese directed the previous adaptation, in which Robert De Niro gave audiences goosebumps with his riveting portrayal of a psychopathic criminal.
The new adaptation is a 10-episode series set to debut on Apple TV+. So far, only Bardem is confirmed as a cast member and executive producer. Variety reports that Nick Antosca (The Act, Brand New Cherry Flavor, Channel Zero) will be the showrunner and writer. Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg will executive produce the project alongside Antosca, Alex Hedlund, Darryl Frank, and Justin Falvey.
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Scorsese’s massively underrated 1991 thriller follows the Bowden family as they’re stalked by an unforgiving psychopath. Max Cady (De Niro) has just been released from prison after spending more than a decade behind bars for committing a horrific crime. His public defender, Sam Bowden, omitted evidence that might have gotten Cady a lighter sentence. When Cady gets out and learns of his attorney’s decision, he decides to get revenge on Sam – by going after his wife and daughter, as well.
However, it seems Antosca’s reboot is a little different. Variety also reports the following logline, which changes a few details about the original plot: “A storm is coming for happily married attorneys Amanda and Steve Bowden when Max Cady, a notorious killer from their past, gets out of prison.” Bardem will play Cady, of course.
‘Cape Fear’ is Martin Scorsese’s Best Attempt at a Horror Thriller
1991’s Cape Fear is a remake of the 1962 film starring Robert Mitchum and Gregory Peck, which itself is based on the novel The Executioners by John D. MacDonald. The modern version was adapted by Wesley Strick and directed by Scorsese one year after Goodfellas was released. Originally a Spielberg film, Cape Fear was the result of the two directors exchanging visionary projects. Spielberg landed Schindler’s List, and Scorsese kept the horror thriller, but Spielberg stayed on as producer.
In addition to De Niro, Scorsese’s film stars Nick Nolte, Juliette Lewis, and Jessica Lange. De Niro and Lewis were nominated for Oscars in the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress categories, respectively, but they ultimately didn’t win. Still, it was a prominent film for both, as De Niro was in his prime, and Lewis got noticed very quickly as a young but versatile performer.
Cape Fear has aged very well. Scorsese’s exercise in the thriller genre is a scary and tense piece starring a fine group of actors under the leadership of a director who seemed comfortable at ditching the rule book and releasing something more akin to a horror film.
Perhaps horror isn’t the right word – terror. De Niro’s Cady is the embodiment of calculating evil, a beautiful homage to Mitchum’s version of the villain, but also to his character in The Night of the Hunter. Cady is a charismatic psychopath who, although capable of extremely vicious acts, we can’t help but follow as he tries his best to destroy the Bowden family.
Cape Fear
Release Date November 15, 1991
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