One of the best movie thrillers ever made is getting a remake (again) with Oscar winners Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg executive producing. The classic thriller Cape Fear is coming to a TV screen near you. Adapted from John D. MacDonald’s novel The Executioners, it tells the story of a recently released criminal who exacts his revenge against the lawyer who failed to defend him. It was first adapted into a 1962 film starring Robert Mitchum and Gregory Peck, then in 1991 remade by Martin Scorsese, starting Robert De Niro.
The 1962 film starred Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum. It followed attorney Sam Bowden, played by Peck, whose family is stalked by rapist Max Cady, played by Mitchum, whom he helped send to jail. The 1991 version also starred Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange, Joe Don Baker and Juliette Lewis. Mitchum and Peck, in his final theatrical film role before his death, both appeared in the movie. De Niro starred as Cady and Nolte was Sam Bowden. The movie earned Oscar nominations for De Niro and Lewis.
According to Deadline, there is a big bidding war over a TV pitch with multiple buyers vying to adapt this series. In their first ever TV collaboration, the Oscar winners are joining forces with creator, executive producer and showrunner Nick Antosca, Amblin Television and UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group.
While still in the early stages, the new Cape Fear will put a modern spin on the original story, focusing on a dangerous murderer and the modern obsession with true crime media. It is reportedly a tense, contemporary thriller that examines America’s obsession with true crime in the 21st century. In it, a storm is coming for a pair of married attorneys when an infamous killer from their past gets released after years in prison.
Nick Antosca who served as creator and showrunner for the horror anthology series Channel Zero. Antosca also produced and wrote several crime series, such as A Friend of the Family and The Act.
The Cape Fear TV series is “in development” and hasn’t landed a network or streamer.
