Twin Peaks Star Joins Apple TV's A-List Remake of a Martin Scorsese Chiller

Patrick Fischler joins Amy Adams and Patrick Wilson in Apple TV's Cape Fear, turning up the heat on the streamer's next must-watch thriller.
Patrick Fischler — yes, the guy from Twin Peaks: The Return and the nightmare-inducing diner scene in Mulholland Drive — just joined Apple TV's new Cape Fear series. And if that title rings a bell, it should: this is a fresh spin on the John D. MacDonald novel The Executioners, the same story that became the 1962 thriller with Gregory Peck and the 1991 Martin Scorsese remake with Nick Nolte and Robert De Niro.
The setup
Apple's take is being pitched as both a thriller and a look at why we cannot stop binging true-crime stories. Deadline describes the series like this:
"a tense, Hitchcockian thriller and an examination of America’s obsession with true crime in the 21st century. In it, a storm is coming for happily married attorneys Anna and Tom Bowden when Max Cady, a notorious killer from their past, gets out of prison."
In other words: the Bowdens think they have it together, and then a ghost from an old case walks out of lockup with a grudge.
Who is playing who
- Amy Adams as Anna Bowden
- Patrick Wilson as Tom Bowden
- Javier Bardem as Max Cady
- CCH Pounder, Ron Perlman, and Anna Baryshnikov are on board in undisclosed roles
- Patrick Fischler has joined the cast — his character is being kept under wraps
Quick refresher on Fischler
Fischler might be best known as Duncan Todd in Twin Peaks: The Return, but his deep-cut claim to fame is being one half of that unforgettable Mulholland Drive diner scare — the guy haunted by a recurring nightmare about something awful lurking behind Winkies. He has also popped up in Lost, Mad Men, and Californication. Given that pedigree, dropping him into a so-called Hitchcockian thriller feels like a smart, slightly wicked fit.
How we got here
For context: Cape Fear started as MacDonald's The Executioners. It first hit the screen in 1962 under director J. Lee Thompson with Gregory Peck as attorney Sam Bowden. Scorsese revisited it in 1991, with Nick Nolte taking over Peck's role and Robert De Niro turning Max Cady into a sweating, tattooed nightmare. This new series tweaks the setup with Anna and Tom as the Bowdens, but the core cat-and-mouse is very much intact.
Release timing
Apple has not set a release date yet. When that changes, you will know.