Apple TV debuts Cape Fear series with Bardem and Adams

A new television adaptation of the classic thriller "Cape Fear" premiered globally on Apple TV on June 5. The limited series, starring Javier Bardem, Amy Adams, and Patrick Wilson, reimagines the story of a married couple of attorneys terrorized by a former client they helped convict.

The series follows Anna Bowden, a defense attorney played by Amy Adams, and her husband, prosecutor Tom Bowden, portrayed by Patrick Wilson. Their lives are upended when Max Cady, a man Anna defended in a murder case 17 years earlier, is released from prison. Javier Bardem plays Cady, an ex-convict who begins a campaign of psychological torment against the couple. The narrative also explores the impact on the Bowdens' children, played by Lily Collias and Joe Anders.

This marks the first time the story, originally from John D. MacDonald's 1957 novel "The Executioners," has been adapted for television. Previous film versions were released in 1962 and 1991, the latter directed by Martin Scorsese. Both Scorsese and Steven Spielberg serve as executive producers on this new series, which was created by showrunner Nick Antosca.

The adaptation updates the setting for a modern audience, incorporating...