[1] Born in Cuba, he was raised in Bronxville, New York,[1] later graduating with a degree in creative writing from Antioch College.
[1] Following a brief stint as a story analyst at Daniel Melnick's The IndieProd Company, he joined 20th Century Fox in 1989 as a script reader.
[4][5] At Fox, he was promoted to a junior creative executive position, then, in June 1995, to senior vice-president of production.
[4] There, Saralegui ushered Speed, Independence Day, Broken Arrow and Die Hard With a Vengeance through the development and production processes, and oversaw the productions of Speed 2: Cruise Control, Alien: Resurrection and Great Expectations.
[8][9] In 2005, he co-founded horror film production company Midnight Picture Show with Clive Barker.