Netflix’s ‘Apex’ Turns Charlize Theron and Taron Egerton’s Thrill-Seeking Adventure Into a Fight for Survival in New Look [Exclusive]

Netflix opened the year with a star-studded action film in The Rip, which co-stars Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. The streamer isn’t making its subscribers wait long for the next big thriller with a strong call sheet, though. Set to release soon on April 24 is Apex, the new movie following an adrenaline junkie who sets out to conquer a menacing river only to discover that nature isn’t the only thing out for blood. The film co-stars Taron Egerton and Charlize Theron opposite Eric Bana, and it was written by Jeremy Robbins and directed by Baltasar Kormákur. As part of our Exclusive Preview Event here at Collider, we’re thrilled to partner with Netflix to preview a new image from Apex, but that’s not all.

Collider’s Maggie Lovitt also had a chat with director Baltasar Kormákur to get the inside scoop on what to expect from the pulse-pounding new survival thriller. When she asked what drew him to the project, he told Collider:

“I love the simplicity of the story and this idea of a person going through a kind of self-inflicted trauma and, in some way, an early self-inflicted purgatory. I thought that the kind of playfulness in nature and the opportunity of having two characters in that kind of wild place, was very exciting to me and then all the other stuff, but that was definitely a big draw. I spend a lot of time in nature myself, and I love it when nature becomes one of the big elements.”

Most of Apex was shot in Australia, but this wasn’t originally by design. Kormákur explained how the need for river rafting and climbing during the winter months forced the filming crew to adapt to a new location. “I had never been to Australia when I made this decision. Of course, I've seen a lot to make the film work totally in Australia. It wasn't originally written like that, and then it was, like the time of the year, because we had to shoot it during the winter months, so it had to be the Southern Hemisphere, or we wouldn't be able to do those kinds of river rafting and climbing," he told Lovitt. "And it was supposed to not be in a warm place, and then I kind of went full in after. I like the idea of going full in on Australia and not using Australia for different places, actually using Australia for what it is. And then I just started scouting, and it got more and more exciting and interesting for a lot of the crew towards the end of the film, and time especially would take them to those places they'd never heard of in Australia.”

He continued, explaining how his own experiences riding horses in Iceland shaped his desire to create an environment on-screen that feels treacherous and real. “I was taking the locals to places they hadn't seen or heard of. So it got really exciting," he explained. "And I just kept digging deeper and deeper into places that would give me this kind of…. It's like a tunnel. You go deeper and deeper, and there's no way out of this tunnel. And that's the nature that creates the tunnel. And this does happen because I ride horses a lot in Iceland, in the Highlands, in the summer season. And if you take the wrong direction, you might be stuck there for a long time because there's no way out of certain situations that allow you to get through them." Speaking of the feeling of isolation in the film he explained, "Going back is not often an option either. So it's just I like that kind of feeling that it just surrounds you, and then you just go deeper and deeper and deeper in, and you just have to come through it. And that is also like a metaphor for trauma, for all kinds of going through it. You can't go by it.”

When it came to working with cinematographer Lawrence Sher, also famed for his work shooting both Joker movies and The Hangover, Kormákur had nothing but glowing things to say about their relationship: “It was great, great. I mean, I love his work on The Joker. And I actually also saw The Hangover, which was so very fun... We gelled right away. He is an exceptional coworker, and I just loved working with him. And actually, I'm shooting another film with him now in the spring.” Kormákur went on to liken his relationship to Sher to that of twin brothers, saying:

“Yeah, I've worked with some great DPS, but it's hard to find people who are great and also are right for you. It doesn't mean that somebody great is always right for you, and how you proceed. And we are almost like twin brothers when we're shooting. It's like, I don't know when it begins and ends. We have a way of understanding each other with how we present and do things. We talk about them, but often we just go without words and there's something about it that’s grounded enough. But at the same time, it's still a movie. It's still not dull. We're always looking for the most interesting angle, but we're not forcing angles up on the movie or a camera style. We're telling a story, but I want the story to feel like a movie. So it has to have very grainy details, but it also has to have big shots that give you the scope. But those shots have to come naturally into the film.”

Working With Charlize Theron and Taron Egerton Was Part of the Fun for Baltasar Kormákur

Lovitt also asked Kormákur about working with action icons Charlize Theron and Taron Egerton, who joined Apex at vastly different stages of the project. “She [Theron] was one of the big draws for me because we were approached by Netflix at the same time. So, I think we gravitated towards each other and worked on this, and then Taron came later.” When it came to Taron Egerton, though, things weren’t so simple. Kormákur confirms Egerton “took on a role that wasn’t in the script,” but that he “brought a lot to the table.” He explained:

“But for me, what I loved about the casting of Taron, it was a bit of a process for me to find that he's very unexpected in this role. It's very different from what he's done. And also, he took on a character that wasn’t in the script. It's something more that we created to find out a different approach to a personality like this, and I love that it's a bit of, you take a chance, and you don't know what the outcome is going to be. But I'm really happy with what he brought to the table, and a lot of great ideas and things that we shaped together. And that's the freedom, also of having two actors for the most part. But not to forget Eric Bana, who is a fantastic actor and is in the opening of the movie, and is an Australian. So it also gives a reason why he is there.”

Kormákur also teased that Theron would have some epic climbing sequences in the film, which ties back to his earlier comments about creating a volatile environment for her character. He told Collider: “And Charlize, you will see immense climbing sequences in the movie that will give people the chills because she really did the hard work, and we wanted to give no discount of how hard it is. Like you see climbing in movies, people are kind of jumping with no rope and hanging off their knees. There's no such thing in that. She's just hanging on for her life in this movie.”

Check out the new image from Apex above and stay tuned for more from Collider’s Exclusive Preview event.