Disclosure Day's Adam Somner Tribute Explained

If you're unfamiliar with the late Adam Somner, you might not know why Steven Spielberg's film "Disclosure Day" is dedicated to the artist.

Somner, a longtime collaborator of Spielberg's who worked with the acclaimed Academy Award-winning director for the first time on 2005's "War of the Worlds" as first assistant director, helped prep "Disclosure Day" at the beginning of the filmmaking process, according to official press notes. Even though "One Battle After Another" is technically Somner's final executive producer credit — which won him a posthumous Academy Award when the movie took home best picture — he's listed as an executive producer on "Disclosure Day" to honor his partnership with Spielberg.

In the statement, Spielberg said of Somner: "Adam is the greatest assistant director I've ever worked with and was very essential on the films we made together. All of us who have been sharing him these past years—Ridley [Scott], Martin [Scorsese], Paul [Thomas Anderson], so many more — have felt that Adam was the one indispensable person on the set, beyond the cameraman and the production designer." He continued:

"In terms of getting the production rolling, getting everything coordinated and getting what we needed and making your shooting days, he was extraordinary. He understood the demons that pop up in our minds that rob us of joy when we make films, understood all the things that filmmakers suffer through. He knew how to calm us down, when to put an arm around us and whisper something terribly inappropriate in our ear to get us to laugh when we are ready to scream. There has been no one like Adam Somner before. So we are all adjusting, not having Adam with us."

Adam Somner — who died in November 2024 due to anaplastic thyroid cancer at the age of 57 — got his start in Hollywood as a first assistant director thanks to the spoof movie "Johnny English" in 2003, but just two years later, he worked with Ridley Scott and Steven Spielberg on Scott's "Kingdom of Heaven" and Spielberg's "War of the Worlds" and "Munich." By 2007, he formed a fruitful working relationship with Paul Thomas Anderson thanks to Anderson's Oscar-nominated film "There Will Be Blood," and after working on "The Master" and "Lincoln" with Anderson and Spielberg, he served as the first assistant director for "The Wolf of Wall Street." (By then, Somner was also an accomplished producer and earned a co-producer credit on Scorsese's ode to criminal financial success.)

From "Birdman" with Alejandro González Iñárritu to Anderson's "Licorice Pizza" and Spielberg's "West Side Story," Somner was part of some of the most acclaimed films imaginable before his untimely passing ... but his first Oscar win, sadly, did come after his death thanks to his executive producer credit on "One Battle After Another," Anderson's American masterpiece that released in 2025 which included a heartfelt tribute to Somner's memory. There's no question, though, that Somner's body of work is an extraordinary legacy to leave. He also, as it happens, left his mark on "Disclosure Day" in a big way, by helping create one of the movie's most memorable action sequences.

As "Disclosure Day" producer Kristie Macosko Krieger said in the statement, Adam Somner did more than just baseline prep work for Spielberg's sci-fi chase movie (which /Film's chief film critic Chris Evangelista rewarded with a rave review). He actually helped craft a huge action set-piece that features Emily Blunt's Margaret Fairchild and Josh O'Connor's Daniel Kellner where, as the two find themselves chased by nefarious forces, their car is shoved in front of active train tracks, forcing them to stage a daring escape. (This is as far as I can go, explanation-wise, without getting into major spoilers ... but trust me when I say I'm underselling precisely how thrilling this moment is on the big screen.)

After saying that Somner helped conceive of that moment, Macosko Krieger said the entire process was aided by Somner even without him there. "The first day of filming on this movie was really hard, but we also leaned into it and made it really special by dedicating the day to him," Macosko Krieger said of shooting the movie without her collaborator. "He made all of our films better and he was working right up until the very end. To bring this story to life and have him be a huge part of it is bittersweet and really meaningful for all of us."

"Disclosure Day" is in theaters now ... and when you watch it, know that Somner helped build this movie from the ground up.