Hollywood's penchant for adapting hit movies into TV shows continues, with one of cinema's most frightening thriller villains set to terrorize viewers, at least those with Apple TV+ subscriptions. The streaming service previously revealed development plans for an episodic take on Cape Fear, the 1991 film from Martin Scorsese that was itself a remake of the 1967 feature, with Steven Spielberg also on board. And now we know who’s taking on the role that Robert De Niro made so chilling.
Apple TV+ announced a full 10-episode series order for Cape Fear, along with the reveal of its main star and creative team-leader, and I couldn’t be more impressed with both choices. Let's take a closer look at both while hoping this exciting new project will be ready in time to debut on the 2025 TV schedule.
Javier Bardem Is Starring As Max Cady
To date, Javier Bardem has already played (at least) two of cinema's most captivating villains that also happen to be in two of his best movies, with my examples here being No Country for Old Men's expressionless monster Anton Chigurh and Skyfall's expression-filled cyberterrorist Raoul Silva. Now, he'll once again raise audience stress levels as Cape Fear's released killer Max Cady, who was first portrayed in live-action by Robert Mitchum.
Along with playing the central threat, whose knuckles will presumably again be tattooed with the opposing ideas of "Love" and "Hate," Bardem will also be slightly more involved behind the scenes as executive producer alongside Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg.
Javier Bardem's career currently seems as busy as can be, having recently co-starred in Netflix's Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story and in Denis Villeneuve's Dune: Part Two, with Skydance Animation's Netflix feature Spellbound on the way before the end of the year. Fans can see him opposite Brad Pitt next year in F1, also. But now I'm just going to be waiting to see him beefed up and hopefully with a mohawk for Cape Fear.
The Act & Chucky's Nick Antosca Is Showrunner
I pretty much adore everything Nick Antosca gets involved with, and I think he definitely has the skills to put together a story that justifies stretching this core narrative out for ten episodes. Cape Fear was first adapted from John D. MacDonald's 1957 novel The Executioners, and the new TV series will take inspirations from both the book and the 1991 film.
Antosca's career highlights go back to his days as a writer and producer on Hannibal, followed by creating one of my favorite horror TV shows of all time, Channel Zero, and then a string of acclaimed true crime hits in The Act, Candy, and Friend of the Family. And let's not forget his bonkers Netflix horror drama Brand New Cherry Flavor, nor his EP duties on Chucky.
Cape Fear: 6 Thoughts I Had While Rewatching The Robert De Niro Movie
By and large, Nick Antosca is a genre master, and Cape Fear is something of an ideal crossroads where its suspenseful thriller nature could be taken even deeper into more horror-driven sequences.
For those who may be completely unfamiliar, Cape Fear centers on a happily married pair of attorneys named Amanda and Steve Bowden who become targets for Max Cady, a notorious killer whose past connects with the couple's. This version, however, is said to be an "examination of America's obsession with true crime in the 21st century."
The original ranks as one of CinemaBlend's Best Movies of the 1990s, and it'll be difficult for Javier Bardem to raise the stakes high enough to surpass De Niro as the ideal Max Cady portrayer.
