Javier Bardem wants Amy Adams and Patrick Wilson dead in the first footage out of Apple TV‘s “Cape Fear.”
The series is created and showrun by Nick Antosca (“Brand New Cherry Flavor,” “A Friend of the Family”), and it’s inspired by Martin Scorsese’s brutal 1991 remake of J. Lee Thompson’s 1962 movie. Bardem takes on the role of Max Cady, who is fresh from prison and seeking revenge against the attorneys he believes wronged him. Robert De Niro and Robert Mitchum played Cady in their respective past films, and this series adapts author John D. MacDonald’s 1957 novel “The Executioners.” Watch the first teaser trailer below.
Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg (who originally considered directing the remake) serve as executive producers, with Morten Tyldum among the series’ directors. In the 10-episode limited series, “a storm is coming for happily married attorneys Anna (Amy Adams) and Tom Bowden (Patrick Wilson) when Max Cady (Javier Bardem), the notorious killer they are responsible for putting behind bars, is let out of prison — and he wants vengeance,” per Apple.
The tense trailer indicates the series will play up the earlier films’ pulpy Southern Gothic vibe, as well as the terrifying horror of the previous adaptations if Bardem’s sinister, sadistic grin and prison tattoos tell us anything. The Spanish actor was last seen on television in Netflix’s “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.” Adams’ most recent project was the critical flop “At the Sea” at the Berlin Film Festival. but the Oscar-nominated screen actress has been a great asset on TV before thanks to her work on HBO’s “Sharp Objects” from 2018.
The cast of this version of “Cape Fear” also includes Joe Anders (Kate Winslet’s son), Lily Collias (breakout of the indie favorite “Good One”), Malia Pyles (“Pretty Little Liars”), and CCH Pounder (“The Naked Gun”). Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey will produce the series alongside Steven Spielberg for Amblin Television.
For Scorsese’s movie, De Niro and co-star Juliette Lewis were both nominated for Oscars.
“Cape Fear” debuts on Apple TV on Friday, June 5. Watch the trailer below.