With Apple TV setting a premiere date of June 5, 2026, for its Cape Fear remake, a rewatch of the films that inspired the upcoming 10-part psychological thriller series feels like a given. There’s just one problem, neither is streaming at the time of writing.
John D. MacDonald’s novel The Executioners about an attorney stalked by a criminal they helped convict was the original inspiration for J. Lee Thompson’s breakout Hollywood movie Cape Fear. Released in 1962, the southern gothic spine-chiller was widely praised for its suffocating sense of dread, with many critics highlighting Robert Mitchum’s performance as ex-con Max Cady and Bernard Herrmann’s sinister score.
Given that Universal Pictures owns the rights, you’d expect the original Cape Fear to show up on Peacock in the US, where much of the studio’s back catalog lives, but it’s nowhere to be found. In fact, the movie isn’t available on any of the best streaming services. That’s the same in the UK and Australia, where Universal’s catalog is usually spread across multiple platforms but currently has no listings for the film.
Adding insult to injury, the 1991 remake, which is one of the best Martin Scorsese movies, is also unavailable to stream in both the US and the UK, though Aussies can still find it on Paramount+, Binge and Foxtel Now (you’re welcome).
Inspired by both MacDonald’s novel and James R. Webb’s screenplay adaptation, Scorsese’s version is one of those rare remakes often considered equal to, or even better than, the original. That’s largely down to Robert De Niro’s intense performance as the psychopath Cady, which was a lot more menacing in comparison to Mitchum’s.
Unfortunately, if you wanted to compare their portrayals before Apple TV’s new series arrives, you simply can’t (well, if you don’t want to buy or rent them that is). That’s a real shame, because not only are both films worth watching in their own right, but they’ve shaped decades of pop culture, with The Simpsons’ Sideshow Bob even parodying Cady at one point.
With Apple TV revisiting the story once again, now would be the perfect time to bring both movies back to streaming. Instead, anyone interested in the new series will have to go in blind.
How is Apple TV’s Cape Fear different from the original movies?
According to creator Nick Antosca, the new series stays close to MacDonald’s core premise, but switches up the protagonist role by turning the attorney (previously called Sam Bowden in both earlier films) into a married couple who were both involved in Cady’s conviction.
“Cape Fear is the story of Anna and Tom Bowden, two happily married lawyers whose perfect life turns into a nightmare when Max Cady, a notorious killer from their past, gets out of prison and shows up to settle an old score,” he said at a preview of Apple TV’s 2026 slate of movies and shows.
Despite getting back Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, who was originally set to direct the 1991 remake through his Amblin Entertainment production company but ended up passing it up to make Schindler’s List, as executive producers, the biggest changes are likely to come from the cast.
“Javier Bardem brings terrifying intelligence and depth to Max Cady, while Amy Adams and Patrick Wilson ground the series with fierce, vulnerable and devastatingly human performances as Anna and Tom,” Antosca said.
Having been a fan of the original movies, he wanted to capture the southern, swampy, nightmare energy of the remake, which Adams revealed terrified her. “When I rewatched it prepping for this, there are scenes I had to fast forward because I’m like, ‘can’t watch it, can’t watch it’. And when I read the pilot [for Apple TV’s remake], it captured that same fever dream energy,” she said during a discussion about the show.
“[Scorsese’s version] was also one of those movies, filmmaking-wise, that outside of the content, [took] big swings on a cinema-level,” Wilson added. “It was the first time I ever saw the split focus diopter. It was like this reverse negative. So all these camera tricks that I had never seen before… It just seemed like a very avant-garde movie.”
Despite much of the original movies influencing the TV adaptation, the cast and crew agree that there are multiple reasons to revisit such classic films as a series, not least because the format gives a chance to really expand on the characters and each of their own issues.
“Both of the earlier movies [are] artifacts of their time. They reflect the cultural values and the views of family. And it felt like, in this version, it was a great time to revisit that for 2026,” Antosca said. “The show, to me, is about ambient dread. And that, to me, reflects the atmosphere of being alive in 2026 with its uncertainties and ambiguities and paranoia. And so that’s what I feel is kind of the vibe.”
It’s clear that the story is worth revisiting for a new generation, but until the original movies return to streaming, you sadly won’t have the chance to see where it all began.
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amelia.schwanke@futurenet.com (Amelia Schwanke)
