Javier Bardem Starring in ‘Cape Fear’ TV Series from Producers Spielberg and Scorsese

The 1957 novel The Executioners by John D. MacDonald was adapted twice for the big screen with both 1962’s Cape Fear and 1991’s Cape Fear, and the tale is next headed to the small screen for a television series from writer/showrunner Nick Antosca (“Channel Zero”).

THR reports today that Javier Bardem (“Monsters”) will star in the brand new Cape Fear television series, which hails from exec producers Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg.

Bardem is set to play the villain of the piece, the sinister Max Cady.

Apple+ has already greenlit the project with a series order.

The Hollywood Reporter notes, “The 10-episode series is described as a tense, Hitchcockian thriller and an examination of America’s obsession with true crime in the 21st century. The broad strokes of the story and the characters remain the same as the film versions as happily married attorneys Amanda and Steve Bowden face a growing storm when Max Cady (to be played by Bardem), a notorious killer from their past, gets out of prison.”

The new series is being produced by UCP and Amblin Television.

The 1962 adaptation of MacDonald’s novel was helmed by J. Lee Thompson and starred Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum and Polly Bergen. Martin Scorsese’s own 1991 feature, also titled Cape Fear, starred Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange and Juliette Lewis.

Nick Antosca previously created the shows “Channel Zero,” “A Friend of the Family,” “The Act” and “Brand New Cherry Flavor,” and he also worked on “Hannibal” and “Chucky.”