Stephen Sommers (born March 20, 1962) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer, best known for big-budget action films, such as '' The Mummy'' (1999), its sequel, '' The Mummy Returns'' (2001), ''

Van Helsing Professor Abraham Van Helsing () is a fictional character from the 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula'' written by Bram Stoker. Van Helsing is a Dutch polymath doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the P ...

'' (2004), and '' G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra'' (2009). He also directed '' The Adventures of Huck Finn'' (1993), Disney's live action version of '' Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book'' (1994) and the action horror film '' Deep Rising'' (1998).

Early life

Stephen Sommers was born in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, and grew up in St. Cloud, Minnesota, where he attended St. Cloud Apollo High School. He is a graduate of Saint John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota, and the

University of Seville The University of Seville (''Universidad de Sevilla'') is a university in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. Founded under the name of ''Colegio Santa María de Jesús'' in 1505, in 2022 it has a student body of 57,214,U-Ranking Universidades español ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. After graduating, he spent four years performing as an actor in theater groups and managing rock bands throughout

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. He eventually returned to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, where he attended the

USC School of Cinematic Arts The USC School of Cinematic Arts is an academic unit of the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles. With a history that dates to the first years of Sound film, talkies, the school descends from America's first ...

for three years, earning a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

and writing and directing the award-winning short film ''Perfect Alibi''.

Career

''Perfect Alibi'' helped Sommers acquire independent funding to write and direct his first feature film, the teen racing film ''

Catch Me If You Can ''Catch Me If You Can'' is a 2002 American crime comedy-drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks with Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Nathalie Baye, Amy Adams, and James Brolin in ...

'', filmed for $800,000 on location in his hometown of St. Cloud. The film was sold at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

for $7 million and later debuted on video in the United States. Almost four years later, broke and in danger of having his house repossessed, he wrote and directed an adaptation of

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...

's classic '' The Adventures of Huck Finn'' for

Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film Film production company, production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios (division), the Walt Disney Studios, a division of Disney Entertainment, which is owned by the Walt Disney Company. The st ...

, as well as '' Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book''. He later wrote the screenplays for '' Gunmen'' and ''

Tom and Huck ''Tom and Huck'' is a 1995 American adventure comedy-drama film based on Mark Twain's 1876 novel ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'', and starring Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Brad Renfro, Mike McShane, Eric Schweig, and Amy Wright. The film was d ...

'', which he also executive produced for Disney (along with a TV version of ''

Oliver Twist ''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens. It was originally published as a serial from 1837 to 1839 and as a three-volume book in 1838. The story follows the titular orphan, who, ...

'' in 1997 starring

Richard Dreyfuss Richard Stephen Dreyfuss ( ; Dreyfus; born October 29, 1947) is an American actor. He emerged from the New Hollywood wave of American cinema, finding fame with a succession of leading man parts in the 1970s. He has received an Academy Award, a ...

and

Elijah Wood Elijah Jordan Wood (born January 28, 1981) is an American actor and producer. Wood made his film debut with a minor part in ''Back to the Future Part II'' (1989) at the age of eight and achieved recognition in the early 1990s as a child acto ...

), and worked as a staff writer at

Hollywood Pictures Hollywood Pictures Company was an American film production label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Established in 1989, by Disney CEO Michael Eisner and studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg, Hollywood Pictures was ...

. While there, he worked on a script called ''Tentacle'', which he later directed under the title '' Deep Rising'' in 1998. In 1999, he wrote and directed

Universal Studios Universal Studios may refer to: * Universal Studios, Inc., an American media and entertainment conglomerate ** Universal Pictures, an American film studio ** Universal Studios Lot, a film and television studio complex * Various theme parks operat ...

' big-budget remake of '' The Mummy''. The film was a smash hit, and Sommers received two

Saturn Awards The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films bel ...

nominations for Best Director and Best Writer in 2000 by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films. A successful sequel, '' The Mummy Returns'', followed two years later, and he also co-wrote and produced 2002's '' The Scorpion King'', a

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term ...

spin-off Spin-off, Spin Off, Spin-Off, or Spinoff may refer to: Entertainment and media *Spinoff (media), a media work derived from an existing work *''The Spinoff'', a New Zealand current affairs magazine * ''Spin Off'' (Canadian game show), a 2013 Canad ...

of ''The Mummy Returns''. In 2004, Sommers founded his own company (along with editor/producing partner Bob Ducsay), The Sommers Company, and returned to theater screens with ''

'', a film pitting legendary vampire hunter Gabriel Van Helsing against the triumvirate of Universal movie monsters:

Count Dracula Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. He is considered the prototypical and archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by some to have been i ...

, The Wolf Man, and

Frankenstein's monster Frankenstein's monster, commonly referred to as Frankenstein, is a fictional character that first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' as its main antagonist. Shelley's title compares the monster's ...

. Before ''Van Helsing'' even premiered, Sommers and Ducsay began developing a spin-off TV series for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

called ''Transylvania''. Though featuring none of the characters from the film, the series (which was to have made use of the film's Prague set) was about a young cowboy from Texas who becomes a sheriff in

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

, has many strange adventures, and encounters many strange creatures. Sommers and Ducsay were to have been executive producers, and Sommers wrote scripts for the pilot and first several episodes, but NBC decided not to go through with the show. Since ''Van Helsing'', Sommers has been attached to a number of projects. He was originally set to direct ''

Night at the Museum ''Night at the Museum'' is a 2006 fantasy comedy film directed by Shawn Levy and written by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon. It is based on the 1993 children's book of the same name by Croatian illustrator Milan Trenc. The film had an en ...

'', but dropped out due to creative differences. He was also attached to a remake of '' When Worlds Collide'' (to be executive produced by

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

), a new big-screen adaptation of ''

Flash Gordon Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established ''Buck Rogers'' ...

'', a swashbuckling adventure film called ''Airborn'' based on the

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

Kenneth Oppel Kenneth Oppel (born August 31, 1967) is a Canadian children's writer. Biography Oppel was born in Port Alberni, and spent his childhood in Victoria, British Columbia and Halifax, Nova Scotia. He also lived in Newfoundland and Labrador, England, ...

, a romantic/adventure story called ''The Big Love'' based on the novel by Sarah Dunn, and a remake of the French film ''Les Victimes''. Sommers opted out of directing the third ''Mummy'' film, titled '' The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor'', instead becoming one of its producers. Sommers directed

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

' 2009 live-action adaptation of '' G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra'', and also served as a producer. Around that time, he was developing a

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer. Creat ...

adaptation for

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

but left the project. His most recent film, '' Odd Thomas'', had been delayed from release due to lawsuits against the production company, but was eventually released.

Filmography

Film

Producer * '' The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor'' (2008) * '' The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior'' (2008) (Uncredited) Executive producer * '' Van Helsing: The London Assignment'' (2004) (Short film) * '' The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption'' (2012) * '' The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power'' (2015) * '' The Scorpion King: Book of Souls'' (2018)

Television

Accolades

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sommers, Stephen 1962 births 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers American action film directors American male screenwriters College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University alumni Film directors from Indiana Film directors from Los Angeles Film directors from Minnesota Film producers from California Film producers from Indiana Film producers from Minnesota American horror film directors Living people Screenwriters from California Screenwriters from Indiana Screenwriters from Minnesota University of Seville alumni USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni Writers from Indianapolis