Netflix Nabs Serial Killer Genre-Thriller Spec

Netflix has landed rights to the female-driven genre thriller Apex, described as Free Solo meets Silence of the Lambs, Deadline reports today.

Apex was penned by “The Purge” writer Jeremy Robbins and selected as part of 2021’s The Black List, an annual buzzy compendium of the year’s most-liked unproduced Hollywood screenplays.

The spec script logline for Apex: “When an adrenaline junkie sets out to conquer a menacing river, she discovers that nature isn’t the only thing out for blood.” In other words, one woman finds herself stalked by an Apex predator, only this time of the human variety. And it sounds like it’ll be very intense.

Deadline reports that the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes have created a need for original stories for studios’ development slates, which has led to a boost in spec and packaging markets. Before the strikes, “the market was not as robust as reps cautioned their clients about how hard it is to sell a script with talent attached, let alone a spec on its own.” That bodes well for hidden genre gems awaiting discovery on the Black List, similar to last year’s Cobweb, which was featuring on the 2018 Black List.

As for Apex, scribe Jeremy Robbins most recently served as a producer on “The Spiderwick Chronicles” for Apple, Paramount TV and director Barry Sonnenfeld. Before that, he wrote for two seasons on “The Purge“ for Blumhouse, UCP and USA Network.

Stay tuned for further details on Apex as they arrive.

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