Boaz Yakin (, born June 20, 1965) is an Israeli-American filmmaker based in New York City. He has written screenplays to films like The Rookie, Fresh, A Price Above Rubies, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, and Now You See Me, and has directed the 2000 sports drama Remember the Titans and the 2012 Jason Statham action film Safe. As a producer he has collaborated frequently with filmmaker Eli Roth and served as executive producer for the first two entries in the Hostel franchise.

Early life

Yakin was born in New York City. Both his parents are Israeli-born, and met in Paris while studying miming with Marcel Marceau. His father's family are of Syrian Jewish and Egyptian Jewish descent, and his mother's family is of Ashkenazi Polish Jewish descent.

He attended the Bronx High School of Science, where he was classmates in 1983 with actor Jon Cryer.

He was a member of the US Dramatic Jury at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

In 2010, it was announced that Yakin would direct Sympathy for the Devil, with Samuel L. Jackson and Josh Duhamel in the cast. The project was still in development as of 2014.

Yakin's family film Max was released by Warner Bros. and MGM on June 26, 2015.

His 2020 film Aviva was set to premiere at the SXSW Film Festival, but was released publicly because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Personal life

Yakin was married to Israeli music video director Alma Har'el. The couple divorced in 2012.

Filmography

{| class="wikitable"

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! Year

! Title

! width="65"| Director

! width="65"| Writer

! width="65"| Producer

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| 1989

| The Punisher

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| 1990

| The Rookie

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| 1994

| Fresh

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| 1998

| A Price Above Rubies

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|

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| 1999

| From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money

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|

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|-

| 2000

| Remember the Titans

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| 2003

| Uptown Girls

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|

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|-

| 2004

| Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights

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|

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|-

| 2008

| Death in Love

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|-

| 2010

| Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

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|-

| 2012

| style="text-align:left"| Safe

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|

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|-

| 2013

| Now You See Me

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|

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|-

| 2015

| Max

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| 2018

| Boarding School

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| 2020

| Aviva

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| 2021

| The Harder They Fall

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|}

Producer only

  • 2001 Maniacs (2001)
  • Bombay Beach (2011) (Documentary)

Executive producer only

  • Hostel (2005)
  • Hostel: Part II (2007)

Books

  • Marathon, a graphic novel illustrated by Joe Infurnari, First Second, 2012
  • Jerusalem, a graphic novel illustrated by Nick Bertozzi, First Second, 2013

References

  • All-Movie Guide entry for Boaz Yakin
  • About Boaz Yakin