Skip to main content
Filmarian
All films
Poster for Cape Fear
Sign in to rateBe the first to rate
+ write a review

Theatrical Trailer

Cape Fear(1991)
Released
1991 · FILM

Cape Fear

A guilt‑ridden attorney must shield his wife and teenage daughter when the psychopathic rapist he once defended is released, learns the law, and returns to New Essex intent on exacting a terrifying revenge.

“Sam Bowden has always provided for his family's future. But the past is coming back to haunt them.”

Directed by
Martin Scorsese, Deborah Lupard
Written by
John D Macdonald, James R Webb
Rated
MPA · R
Runtime
128 min
CrimeDramaThriller
Streaming on
  • The Criterion Channel

Synopsis

Sam Bowden is a small-town corporate attorney. Max Cady is a tattooed, cigar-smoking, Bible-quoting, psychotic rapist. What they have in common is that 14 years ago, Sam was a public defender assigned to Max Cady.

Credits

Actors
Editor
Production Designer
Director of Photography
Writers
Directors

Related titles

No curated related titles yet. Use the edit affordance to add "More from this director", "Same franchise", or "Adaptation source material" entries — every change goes through the wiki review queue.

How many hands made this film

The scale of the collaboration

A crew of 310+ credited

Why a floor?

This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.

Craft leads on file

Edited by Thelma SchoonmakerShot by Freddie FrancisScored by Elmer BernsteinDesigned by Henry BumsteadSound by Tom FleischmanCostumes by Rita RyackStunts by Leon Delaney

Box Office

1991 · Box office

💰 Box-office hit — grossed 5.2× its budget

Why 2.5×?

Cinemas keep roughly half of every ticket sold, and a wide release’s marketing often costs about as much again as the film — so a movie needs to gross around 2.5× its production budget just to break even theatrically. It’s a rule of thumb, not the studio’s ledger (home video and streaming come later).

Worldwide gross

$182.3M

Budget$35.0M
Worldwide gross$182.3M
break-even (2.5×)

US & Canada: $79.1M — 43% of worldwide · International: $103.2M (57%)

Opening weekend: $10.3M — 13% of its US run. It had legs — it kept earning long after opening weekend.

Opening week (7-day): $14.2M — 18% of its US & Canada run.

Peak 924 theaters

Full synopsis

Also known as

  • Kap der Angstde
  • Les Nerfs à viffr
  • Cape Fear - Il promontorio della paurait
Release dates around the world4 countries · show
  • United StatesOct 6, 1991
  • CanadaNov 13, 1991
  • ColombiaDec 1, 1991
  • JapanDec 21, 1991

Production & Distribution

Production companies
Amblin EntertainmentCappa FilmsTribeca Productions

Community tags

Be the first to tag this page — tags appear right away. Try a theme, capability, or subject (e.g. WWII, heist, slow burn, time travel, A24).