What was Martin Scorsese’s role on the series Cape Fear?
Credited as producer alongside Steven Spielberg, the director of the 1991 version actively participated in the development of the television remake.
It’s one of those Hollywood stories that forges the legend of cinema.
In the early 1990s, Steven Spielberg had just directed Hook and was about to embark on a very dark thriller. But he hesitates. He considers the project too violent, while Martin Scorsese, to whom Universal has just offered Schindler’s List, prefers to give up, believing that a Jewish filmmaker would be better able to take charge of it. So Spielberg and Scorsese exchange! While the first resumes the historical film which will give him his first Oscars, the second agrees to direct The Nerves on Raw out of gratitude to Universal, which had supported him during the controversy surrounding The Last Temptation of Christ.
Thirty-five years later, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg are linked again by Max Cady. Both directors are credited as producers of the new series Cape Fear. But what was their exact role in this remake?
“We sought their blessing as soon as we started developing the project,” creator Nick Antosca explains to Première. “They then remained very involved throughout the process. They read the scripts, gave us feedback, watched rushes and different versions of the episodes…”
Martin Scorsese, above all, actively participated in the production of the series:
“We were able to chat with Marty via video during editing. We were extremely lucky: he was invaluable. And then, when we brought the entire cast together in Atlanta before filming for a first collective reading of the script, Marty appeared on Zoom to say a few words to us. It was a very nice surprise. And, I must admit, it put a little pressure on us too!”
Cape Fear is currently broadcast on Apple TV+ and available in France via MyCanal.
