Stephen Sommers Biography

Fast Facts

• Graduated from Saint John's University in Collegeville, Minn․, and the University of Seville in Spain before earning a master's degree from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts
• Perfect Alibi, his award-winning short student film, helped him acquire funding to write and direct "Catch Me if You Can," his first feature film
• He spent four years acting in theatre groups and managing rock bands in Europe after graduating
• Quote: "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 of Mummy movies and it's like, 'Oh, he does monsters․'"
• Quote: "I never want to write something until I know every scene in the movie․ I don't want someone hiring me and then me not being able to write it․"
• Quote: "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․""
• Says the advance criticism and rumors that dogged him as he filmed "GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra" resembled the attacks on the first "Transformers" film, which grossed more than $700 million