The Mummy Director

Background:

"I hope in my career I get to do every kind of movie. When I did 'Huck Finn,' I got all those Disney kid scripts. When I did 'Jungle Book,' then I got all the animal scripts. Now I do a couple 'Mummy' movies and it's like, 'Oh, he does monsters.'" Stephen Sommers

Movie director/writer/producer Stephen Sommers gained attention for his film adaptations of "The Adventures of Huck Finn" (1993) and "The Jungle Book" (1994) before he struck gold with the release of his blockbuster Universal films, "The Mummy" (1999) and its sequel, "The Mummy Returns" (2001).

The filmmaker, who is known for his big, special effects-laden films, later directed, wrote, and produced "Van Helsing" (2004), the action/thriller film about the vampire hunter from Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula" starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale. He is the director/writer/producer behind the upcoming films "G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra," a live-action adaptation of the toy franchise, "Airborn," a film adaptation of Kenneth Oppel's award-winning 2004 young adult novel, and "When Worlds Collide," a big screen version of the 1933 science fiction novel co-written by Philip Gordon Wylie and Edwin Balmer. He is also set to direct "Magic Kingdom for Sale," which is based on Terry Brooks' children's novel.

Indiana-Born; Minnesota-Raised

Childhood and Family:

Born on March 20, 1962, in Indianapolis, Indiana, Stephen Sommers grew up in St. Cloud, Minnesota, where he attended St. John’s College. He then transferred to the University of Seville in Spain and graduated with a BA in 1980. Afterward, he performed as an actor in theater groups and managed rock bands throughout Europe for several years.

Returning to the United States, Sommers settled in Los Angeles and enrolled at the University of Southern California’s (USC) School of Cinematic Arts, where he earned a Masters Degree in Film Production. While there, Sommers met Bob Ducsay, who would go on to edit all of his movies. He also wrote and directed an award winning short film called "Perfect Alibi."

On July 24, 1993, Sommers married his present wife, Jana. The couple currently resides in Los Angeles with their two daughters.

Catch Me If You Can

Career:

"There are four movies that got me into wanting to make movies: 'Journey to the Center of the Earth,' '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,' 'The Swiss Family Robinson,' and 'Jason and the Argonauts.' Those are the movies that took me to different places when I was a kid. I fell in love with movies by watching those movies." Stephen Sommers

While pursuing a degree in the USC School of Cinematic Arts, Stephen Sommers wrote and directed an award-winning short film called “Perfect Alibi,” which would help him acquire independent funding to write and direct his first feature film, “Catch Me If You Can” (1989). The teen racing movie was filmed on location in his hometown of St. Cloud, Minnesota, for $300,000 and was released theatrically overseas, but debuted on video in the U.S.

Four years later, Sommers scored a two-year production deal with Disney after he was given a $20,000 "director's test" to see if he could helm "The Adventures of Huck Finn" (1993). Sommers both directed and wrote the screenplay for the film that was based on Mark Twain's novel of the same name. It starred Elijah Wood and Courtney B. Vance, with Sommers making a cameo appearance as the man silhouetted against the fog banging a pot.

The following year, Sommers wrote the script for "Gunmen" (1994), a low-budget western directed by Deran Sarafian that starred Mario Van Peebles, Christopher Lambert, Denis Leary, and Patrick Stewart. He also wrote and directed his second feature film for Disney, "The Jungle Book" (1994), which was based on a collection of stories written by Rudyard Kipling. Starring Jason Scott Lee as Mowgli and Cary Elwes as his main adversary, the film was nominated for a Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film award by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films.

Sommers subsequently wrote the screenplay and executive-produced the 1995 Disney film based on Mark Twain's novel "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," "Tom and Huck" (1995), starring Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Brad Renfro, Joey Stinson, and Rachael Leigh Cook. He also served as co-executive producer for the TV movie adaptation of Charles Dickens' popular novel, "Oliver Twist" (1997), which aired during “The Wonderful World of Disney.” Starring veteran Richard Dreyfuss as Fagin, Elijah Wood as the Artful Dodger, and Alex Trench as Oliver Twist, the movie received a Young Artist Award nomination for Best Family TV Movie/Pilot/Mini-Series – Network.

In 1998, Sommers directed the sci-fi thriller "Deep Rising," which he wrote when he worked at Hollywood Pictures in the mid-90s. The film, starring Treat Williams and Famke Janssen, was distributed by Hollywood Pictures and Cinergi Pictures to primarily negative reviews.

Sommers bounced back in 1999 with the release of "The Mummy" (1999), a loose remake of the 1932 film of the same name. He directed and wrote both the screen story and the screenplay of the adventure film that stars Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, and Arnold Vosloo. Despite mixed reviews, the film grossed $43 million in 3,210 theaters when it opened on May 7, 1999, and went on to gross $415 million worldwide. It also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Sound and earned Sommers Best Director and Best Writer nominations from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films.

When asked if it was a hard sell to revive "The Mummy," Sommers revealed, "They'd been trying to do it for about nine years but they'd always been trying to do a low-budget horror remake. They'd approached everyone from George Romero to Joe Dante to John Sayles to work on it. They basically gave up, so I called them up and said, 'Let me pitch you my idea.' So I pitched them my version and they were like, 'Oh, this is the movie that we want to make, a big, special effects, action-adventure horror extravaganza.'"

The box office success of "The Mummy" (1999) led to a 2001 sequel, "The Mummy Returns," which was also directed and written by Sommers. It proved to be even more successful than the first installment, earning $24,134,667 on its opening day. It won Top Box Office Film at the ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards and was nominated for Best Fantasy Film by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films. "The Mummy Returns" also had a 2002 spin-off starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, "The Scorpion King," which was written (screenplay and story) and produced by Sommers, with Chuck Russell as the director.

2004 saw Sommers direct, write, and produce "Van Helsing," an action/thriller film about the vampire hunter from Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula." Starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale, "Van Helsing" received negative reviews. The $160 million-budgeted film only grossed around $120,177,084 domestically and $300,257,475 worldwide.

Sommers is now on the set directing "G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra," an upcoming live-action adaptation of the “G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero” toy franchise featuring an ensemble cast that includes Channing Tatum, Dennis Quaid, Rachel Nichols, Ray Park, Marlon Wayans, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Karolína Kurková, and Sienna Miller.

He is also directing "Airborn," a film adaptation of Kenneth Oppel's award-winning 2004 young adult novel of the same name, and "When Worlds Collide," a big screen version of the 1933 science fiction novel co-written by Philip Gordon Wylie and Edwin Balmer. It also has been announced that Sommers is set to direct "Magic Kingdom for Sale," which is based on Terry Brooks's children's novel.

Awards:

• Eyegore Award: 1999