Amy Adams is taking her talents to Apple TV+ with Cape Fear, a 10-episode reimagining of John D. MacDonald’s The Executioners. The series, based on the 1962 and 1991 films, stars Adams (Nightbitch) as Anna Bowden, a lawyer whose life is upended when Max Cady (Javier Bardem) is released from prison. Bardem steps into the role played by Robert Mitchum in 1962 and Robert De Niro in 1991, bringing the same vengeful energy to the notorious killer bent on targeting Anna and her husband, Tom.
The project is billed as a Hitchcockian thriller that digs into America’s ongoing obsession with true crime. Nick Antosca (The Act) is on board as writer and showrunner, with a powerhouse lineup of executive producers: Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Bardem, and Adams. Scorsese and Spielberg previously worked together on the 1991 version of Cape Fear, which starred De Niro, Nick Nolte, and Jessica Lange. That film was a fresh take on J. Lee Thompson’s 1962 version, which featured Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, and Polly Bergen.
Adams, whose credits range from Sharp Objects to Enchanted to American Hustle, as well as the regrettable Leap Year, has earned six Oscar nominations but remains one of Hollywood’s biggest stars without a win. Maybe an Emmy could grease the wheels. Could Cape Fear be her gold ticket? If the Academy won’t recognize her range, maybe the Emmys will.
Cape Fear, of course, is a real place, a coastal plain in Southeastern North Carolina that’s home to the port city of Wilmington and a number of beach towns. When you’ve got a name like “Cape Fear” I guess you’re destined to have a scary movie named after you every 30 years or so. Hey, it could be worse: at least Adams and Bardem aren’t checking in to Terror Lake. Still, Bardem better watch out for rakes, just to be safe.