After his success with The Mummy and The Mummy Returns, Sommers joined forces with collaborator Bob Duscay to form Sommers Company, which has a multi-year deal with Universal Pictures.
Movies associated with Stephen Sommers:
- The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993)
- Gunmen (1994)
- The Jungle Book (1994)
- Oliver Twist (1997; writer)
- Deep Rising (1998)
- The Mummy (1999)
- The Mummy Returns (2001)
- The Scorpion King (2002; producer)
- Van Helsing (2004)
- Van Helsing: The London Assignment (2004; executive producer)
- The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008; producer)
- The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior (2008; uncredited producer)
- G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009)
- Odd Thomas (2012)
Tropes associated with his work:
- Auteur License: Thanks to the successes of The Mummy (1999) and The Mummy Returns, he got free reign to do what he wanted on Van Helsing.
- Author Appeal: His works will feature a lot of action comedy, some Rule of Cool and a Designated Girl Fight between an Action Girl and a villainess. He's also an admitted romance enthusiast, and his action films will often feature a significant romantic subplot. Notable is The Jungle Book (1994), which ages Mowgli up to be an adult and creates a human woman to be his love interest, and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, where The Baroness becomes Duke's love interest and Scarlett that for Ripcord. He's also quite fond of period pieces, with only G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Deep Rising and Odd Thomas being his notable films set in contemporary times. In fact, The Mummy (1999) was set in modern times until he persuaded Universal that it needed to be a period piece.
- B-Team Sequel: He was only a producer on The Scorpion King and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, and only an executive producer on GI Joe: Retaliation.
- Breakthrough Hit: The Mummy (1999) put him on the map as a director.
- Creator Killer: Although G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra was a commercial success and got a sequel, its critical thrashing, Razzie nomination and complaints from fans for perceived liberties with the source material saw him taking the blame, and he did not direct the second one. The most recent film he directed was Odd Thomas, which sank without a trace.
- Genre Throwback: Most of his movies are affectionate throwbacks to genres he loved as a child.
- The Mummy (1999) to 1930s adventure serials.
- Van Helsing to Universal Horror movies from the 1930s until the 50s.
- G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra has elements of 1960s James Bond movies such as Thunderball.
- Production Posse: Kevin J O'Connor tends to appear in his films. Arnold Vosloo and Brendan Fraser likewise have roles in The Mummy Trilogy and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.
- Promoted Fanboy: He lobbied to direct The Mummy (1999) because he was a huge fan of the 1932 original.
