“It’s Mr. Magoo meets Predator,” writer-director Edward Drake says of his new film Apex. That was the pitch behind his third film with Bruce Willis, not including the three more in post-production and slated to come out within the next year or so.

Apex follows Malone (Willis), an ex-cop serving a life sentence for a crime he didn’t commit. He’s offered the chance at freedom if he can survive a deadly game of Apex: The game involves six hunters who pay to hunt another human on a remote island. Malone isn’t as easy a prey as the hunters anticipate and his ability to lay traps and play mind games with his predators causes distrust and hostility amongst the others.

Along with Bruce Willis, the film stars Neal McDonough, Corey Large, Alexia Fast, Nels Lennarson, Lochlyn Munro, Megan Peta Hill, and Trevor Gretzky.

Apex was written by Edward Drake and Corey Large, who also produces.

Regarding his relationship with Large, Drake says, “Corey and I have ideas and I write my thing. That’s how it works. Corey’s a producer and it’s about realizing his vision.” The partnership seems to work as the trio of Drake, Large and Willis continue to hammer out action-thrillers on a regular basis. This team generally has a single expectation that Drake always takes into account — and doesn’t seem as much of a spoiler alert as it does reality. Says Drake, “As soon as you know they’re hunting Bruce, the audience knows he’s not going to die.”

The idea of Apex beyond the pitch involved Drake walking around a property in Australia and wanting to do this kind of story at a location like that. It worked because Drake was contending with a wildly unknown variable: COVID-19.

“We wrapped Cosmic Sin last year in March, I wrote this in April, and it was fully financed and cast by May. What we did was see if films can still be made during COVID,” Drake shares. To fulfill the obligations of the film, the production team had to look at the world in which it would be produced. “To me, what makes a good film is if the crew can see their family every night safe and sound.”

It wasn’t just enacting protocols to keep the cast and crew safe. As best practices evolved and the world learned more about the virus, Drake and the production went one step further. He adds, “We actually wrote a white paper that was used by other companies.”

Finding his way into the movie business.

Drake always wanted to be a filmmaker. He recalls walking through downtown Melbourne and coming across the location where a crew was setting up to shoot the HBO miniseries The Pacific.

“I talked my way on the set and wandered around. It was the first set I was on and after that I essentially talked my way into assistant jobs, seeing how films are produced and how they were done,” Drake says of his time in Australia. About 10 years ago, he crossed the Pacific and moved to Los Angeles.

Drake had written a screenplay titled Anti-Life which was rewritten into the film Breach. He admits that it was not a great experience for a lot of reasons. What did come of this time though was being on set alongside Bruce Willis and his team. Drake and Willis hit it off and they’ve had a solid relationship ever since.

Drake has the advantage of knowing Willis extremely well. He says, “I know his rhythm and cadence, where he’s at in his life and how to have fun with his legacy. He’s been nothing but kind to me. One of the best dudes I’ve ever met.”

When it comes to writing, Drake explains that he’s always been a fast writer, sharing that he typically cranks out a screenplay in about three days. Most filmmakers either believe he’s lying or have a great deal of envy, but there’s something to his method and an understanding as a writer. These scripts do get written in a short period of time but, Drake says, “That’s the first draft and 101 things are going to change — an actor wants more play in one scene, what locations can we get? This changes the script.”

Hence, those three days are just a small part of his entire writing process. Writing is rewriting.

“I understand those who get writer’s block and that’s a serious thing. I wake up at six a.m. every day and write. It’s what I do. I love finding a character and seeing the world through their eyes,” Drake says of his routine. Sometimes, the rewriting never ends.

He says of Cosmic Sin, “I’m still rewriting it in my head. We had 17 days to shoot it and we got it cut to nine due to COVID.” Cosmic Sin wrapped early in March 2020.

Finding your voice

Drake insists that a writer’s voice is the key to being successful. “There are only so many ways to blow up a car,” he says, adding that the voice dictates how the car blows up.

“Find your voice,” he shares. “People can get obsessed with chasing the pursuit of ‘having to get a script made or write one every year.’”

“No, live your life,” he advises. “The happier you are the better your writing will be.”

Apex is in theaters, on-demand and digital on November 12, 2021.