‘Cape Fear’ at 35: Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and the greatest switcheroo in cinema history

Steven Spielberg initially planned to remake *Cape Fear*, but handed the project to Martin Scorsese, who took it on as a favour and partly out of gratitude to Universal. The exchange also freed Spielberg to direct *Schindler’s List*, a switch that matched each director to a film better suited to their strengths.

Spielberg had considered other directors, including Roman Polanski and Sydney Pollack, before Scorsese accepted. Scorsese had previously worked on *Schindler’s List* with screenwriter Steve Zaillian, but stepped away; Spielberg then took over that project. Scorsese’s *Cape Fear*, starring Robert De Niro and Juliette Lewis, received two Academy Award nominations and later inspired homages and parodies.