Mike Stenson, the former president of Jerry Bruckheimer Films, died on April 26, 2026. He was 65. No cause of death was revealed.
“Mike was one of the most brilliant individuals I’ve ever known or worked with,” Jerry Bruckheimer said in a statement. “His sense of story and complete knowledge of film production from development through filming and beyond was just amazing. Mike’s relationships with talent on both sides of the camera was legendary. I can’t express enough how much I will miss him, and what a huge loss this is to me, everyone who worked with Mike through the years, and of course, his family.”
A Harvard graduate, Stenson moved to Los Angeles after college and worked at The Walt Disney Studios in the Special Projects division for two years, then moved into the production department at Hollywood Pictures as a creative executive. He was promoted to vice president and then executive vice president during his eight years with the company, overseeing development and production for Disney’s Touchstone Pictures and Hollywood Pictures, the latter a more genre-focused imprint that began in 1989.
It was at Disney that Stenson met Bruckheimer, who had an output deal with the studio, producing hits like “Crimson Tide,” “Dangerous Minds,” “The Rock,” “Con Air,” “Armageddon” and “Enemy of the State,” along with the “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “National Treasure” films. Bruckheimer will become an official Disney Legend later this summer at D23 in Anaheim.
Stenson joined Jerry Bruckheimer Films in 1998 as president, spearheading “Bruckheimer’s plan to expand the company’s film production schedule, which resulted in several record-breaking motion pictures,” according to the official statement. Stenson served as a producer on “Bad Company” and “Gone in 60 Seconds” and as an executive producer on many more, including “King Arthur,” “Bad Boys II,” “Black Hawk Down” and others. His most recent credits include “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Bad Boys: Ride or Die.”
Mike Stenson is survived by several family members, including his brothers John (and his wife, Mary), Tom (and his wife, Mary), and Robert (and his wife, Kristin Callaghan), as well as his nieces and nephews Kaitlin, Christopher, Elizabeth, Jack, Grace, Aidan and Keira.
