Cape Fear is the story that keeps scaring us generation after generation, and now we can brace ourselves for and upcoming TV series adaptation.
Filmmaking legends Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese are teaming up to executive produce the update, with Nick Antosca (Channel Zero, Brand New Cherry Flavor) serving as creator, executive producer, and showrunner.
Deadline details on how they’ll update the story: “In what is described as an unconventional take on the IP that draws from John D. MacDonald’s novel and its feature adaptations, the Cape Fear series is 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.”
The 1991 Cape Fear film follows the story of a convicted violent rapist (Robert De Niro) who, by using his newfound knowledge of the law and its numerous loopholes, seeks vengeance against a former public defender (Nick Nolte) whom he blames for his 14-year imprisonment due to purposefully faulty defense tactics used during his trial.
The original 1962 film, starring Robert Mitchum and Gregory Peck) had a similar plot but stayed even closer to the 1957 novel The Executioners by John D. MacDonald.
The project has a bidding war, with multiple outlets looking to pick up the Cape Fear series. Antosca already has a working relationship with Peacock, while Scorsese has a first look TV deal. Deadline reports that even Netflix and HBO want to throw their hats in the race.
