Stephen Sommers

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009)

**Stephen Sommers** is a minor character in the novel "**最佳影星**" inspired by the celebrity persona of Stephen Sommers.

## History

### Volume 2 (2000)

He auditioned Matthew Horner for the role of Scorpion King for *The Mummy Returns*, the sequel to his hit movie *The Mummy* but, he had already decided to choose Dwayne Johnson for the role as he had based the role on Johnson when he wrote the script. However, the producer of *The Mummy Returns*, Sean Daniel, decided to cast Matthew for the role. The two got into an argument on this topic but Sean Daniel didn't relent and chose Matthew for the role as he had absolute power in the crew. Stephen Sommers was upset at being unable to make decisions in his own movie and decided to become a producer for the next movie he filmed. He also remained cold towards Matthew.

A few weeks later, he began filming. After over a month of filming, Matthew Horner reported to the crew to begin shooting his few scenes that were concentrated at the end of the filming. During the ten days of filming, Matthew became quite well-liked in the crew and even Stephen Sommers heard people saying nice things about him. He also agreed with their opinion as Matthew was one of the few young actors that were dedicated and sincere during the filming. By the time his scenes were finished, Stephen Sommers realized that all his bad feelings towards Matthew Horner was unknowingly dissipated. In fact, he even felt thankful that Sean Daniel had cast Matthew since he was aware that an acting rookie like Dwayne Johnson would have caused him a lot of trouble during filming.

### Volume 3 (2001)

In May, the film was released and was very successful at the box office, however, as the film lacked interesting new elements, its reputation was terrible among the audience and the critics. Matthew Horner's performance as the Scorpion King was the only element of the film that garnered praise from the audience. Stephen Sommers spoke to Sean Daniel about this and the two decided to delay the sequel for 5-6 years. Instead, they decided to create a spin-off based on the Scorpion King. However, the executives at Universal Pictures were not convinced that Matthew alone could carry the box office of the film. However, they agreed to the spin-off after the marketing team's 10-week long, nationwide survey showed that Matthew Horner was the second most popular character in the film after Rachel Weisz' Evelyn O'Connell.

By July, production of *The Scorpion King* began. Thanks to his continuous success, Stephen Sommers became the main producer of the film and hired Chuck Russell as the director. While producing *The Scorpion King*, Stephen Sommers continued planning his new project that he planned to make based on ancient monsters such as the Dracula, Frankenstein et al. He also considered Matthew as one of the potential candidates for the titular protagonist of the film since he had planned for the protagonist to be young.

### Volume 4 (2002)

In April, the film was released. During the premiere, he had planned to talk to Matthew about auditioning for the role of Van Helsing when the latter introduced him to Orlando Bloom. The two talked at lengths and he became impressed with Bloom and began considering him for the Van Helsing as he had recently become very popular thanks to the role of Legolas in the Lord of Rings 1. Orlando Bloom also indirectly indicated that his schedule was free in the near future.

Meanwhile, *The Scorpion King* was very successful at the box office, earning over $100 million in North America and $200 worldwide at the meager budget of $40 million. Thanks to the film's success, Universal Pictures became more confident in Stephen Sommers and agreed to give him a budget of $160 million for *Van Helsing*. A few days later, Universal Pictures and Stephen Sommers officially announced the news about *Van Helsing* with Orlando Bloom would playing the film's titular protagonist. Soon, Kate Beckinsale was casted as the female lead.

### Volume 6 (2004)

After almost two years of work, *Van Helsing* was finally completed and was released in May, however, the film turned out to be a huge flop. It became of the biggest failures of the decade and almost ended the career of Stephen Sommers, who served as the film's writer, director and producer. It also had dire consequences for Orlando Bloom and Kate Beckinsale, both of whom were forced to survive while depending on their franchise roles as Legolas in *Lord of the Rings* and Selene in *Underworld,* respectively.