Jaume Collet Serra

Life and career

Collet-Serra was born in Sant Iscle de Vallalta, Spain. Soon after graduating, he began his career as an editor before moving on to direct music videos and television commercials for companies such as Sony, Budweiser, and Verizon.

In 2005, Collet-Serra was given an opportunity to direct his first feature film by producer Joel Silver (The Matrix). The film, House of Wax, was a remake of the 1953 original of the same name. Despite reviewers giving the film a negative critical reception, it was a financial success, and starred Elisha Cuthbert and Chad Michael Murray. Two years later, Collet-Serra directed Goal II: Living the Dream. The film finds star European soccer player Santiago Muñez (Kuno Becker) bumped by his agent (Stephen Dillane) from England's Newcastle United team to Real Madrid's Galácticos. He reunited with producer Silver for the third film of his career, Orphan, a 2009 American psychological thriller starring Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, and Isabelle Fuhrman. The film centres on a couple who, after the death of their unborn child, adopt a mysterious nine-year-old girl. Orphan was produced by Joel Silver and Susan Downey of Dark Castle Entertainment and Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson Killoran of Appian Way Productions. The film received mixed critical reviews but was a box office success.

Collet-Serra then directed Unknown, a 2011 British psychological thriller starring Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones, Aidan Quinn, Bruno Ganz, and Frank Langella. The film is based on the 2003 French novel published in English as Out of My Head, by Didier Van Cauwelaert. Collet-Serra made his television directing debut with the ABC pilot The River, a horror drama from Paranormal Activity writer-director Oren Peli. The show was met with generally favourable reviews. In December 2012, he began filming for his next film Non-Stop, which starred Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore.

Collet-Serra formed his own production house Ombra Films. With money from StudioCanal, the small company set out to make low-budget English-language horror films, with an eye toward launching the careers of up-and-coming Spanish filmmakers. Juan Sola, Collet-Serra's producing partner, told Deadline.com, "We've seen how many talented directors are coming out of Spain, but there hasn't really been a platform for them to find work in films. They look up to Jaume as a guy they want to become and we thought, how about a company that creates a bridge between Spain and the U.S., similar to what Luc Besson provided in France? Already, we are being bombarded, and we feel directors will find Ombra a fantastic platform. Jaume loves mentoring new talent." The venture's first film was Mindscape, a psychological thriller about a man with the ability to enter people's memories, starring Taissa Farmiga, Mark Strong, and Brian Cox. Collet-Serra executive produced the found footage comedy-horror film Hooked Up, which was directed by Pablo Larcuen and was shot on an iPhone.

In 2016, Collet-Serra directed The Shallows, a horror-thriller starring Blake Lively, from a script by Anthony Jaswinski. He will then direct The Commuter, set for release on October 13, 2017. The action-thriller stars Liam Neeson, Vera Farmiga, Sam Neill, and Elizabeth McGovern. He will also serve as an executive producer. He signed on to direct Jungle Cruise, starring Dwayne Johnson and based on the attraction of the same name.