Jaume Collet-Serra

Jaume Collet-Serra (Catalan: [ˈʒawmə kuˈʎɛt ˈsɛrə]; born 23 March 1974) is a Spanish-American film director and producer. He directed the horror films House of Wax (2005), Orphan (2009), and The Shallows (2016), as well as the Liam Neeson-led thriller films Unknown (2011), Non-Stop (2014), Run All Night (2015), and The Commuter (2018). Collet-Serra also directed the Dwayne Johnson-starrers Jungle Cruise (2021), based on the eponymous theme park attraction from Disney, and Black Adam (2022), based on the comic book character of the same name from DC. Collet-Serra was born in Sant Iscle de Vallalta, Catalonia, Spain. At the age of 18, he moved to Los Angeles, California and attended Columbia College Hollywood, working as an editor on the side. After graduating in 1996, he began directing music videos and television commercials for brands such as PlayStation, Budweiser, and Verizon. In 2005, Collet-Serra was given an opportunity to direct his first feature film by producer Joel Silver. The film, House of Wax, was a remake of the 1953 film of the same name, and starred Elisha Cuthbert and Chad Michael Murray and featured Paris Hilton. Despite a negative critical reception, it was a financial success. Two years later, Collet-Serra directed Goal II: Living the Dream, the second film in the Goal! film trilogy, in which the main character, star Mexican footballer Santiago Muñez (Kuno Becker), goes to play for Real Madrid. Collet-Serra reunited with producer Silver for his third film, Orphan, a 2009 American psychological horror film starring Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, and Isabelle Fuhrman, about on a couple who, after the death of their unborn child, adopt a mysterious nine-year-old girl. The film received mixed critical reviews but was a box office success, earning around $80 million on a $20 million budget.