The Weinstein brothers attempted to fire Guillermo del Toro from ‘Mimic’
When one thinks of acclaimed filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, it’s hard to imagine a time when those around him stifled his distinct vision. Yet in the late 1990s, as he embarked on the Mimic project as a fledgling director, del Toro was under immense constant pressure from his producers and engaged in near-daily battles for his artistic agency. The culprits in question? Dimension, a production arm of Miramax helmed by the notorious Weinstein brothers.
The working relationship between del Toro and the Weinsteins initially held promise. After the success of his debut film Cronos in 1993, a unique English/Spanish indie horror take on the classic vampire story, the Weinsteins approached del Toro for a contribution to a three-part anthology known as Light Years. Del Toro was permitted to select the story for adaptation, and the team agreed to adapt Donald A. Wollheim’s Mimic.
However, the production process for Mimic quickly became strained. The producers began interfering with del Toro’s creative process even before filming commenced. During script readthroughs, they demanded alterations to the film’s antagonists and insisted on added expositional scenes, which del Toro felt undermined the monsters’ mystery. The director regularly received calls from Miramax, berating him for not making the movie “scary enough”. One particularly incendiary moment found the producers screaming at the director for his decision to have a New York hospital designed with an added gothic flair – a style we all know and love del Toro for today. The Weinsteins, on the other hand, thought it was ridiculous.
Tensions eventually escalated to the point where an infuriated Bob Weinstein allegedly stormed onto the set with a cease and desist order locked and loaded. After discussions back at the Miramax office with the now-convicted rapist Harvey, the brothers had concluded that they needed a new director – and that del Toro needed the sack. According to Peter Biskind’s 2005 oral history book, Down and Dirty Pictures, Weinstein took del Toro aside, fired him, and then ordered him to march over to leading lady Mira Sorvino and tell her that he was voluntarily stepping down from the film.
Weinstein knew that the brother’s cutthroat reputation preceded them and hoped that by ensuring del Toro took the blame himself, none of the rest of the filmmakers would catch wind of the double-crossing. Sorvino, however, “saw right through it”. Furious, she blew up at the Weinstein brother and rightfully accused him of trying to muscle out an otherwise generic B-movie’s only redeeming facet – its auteur director. Citing del Toro as the only reason for her involvement, she refused to do another take until the Mexican director was reinstated. Thanks to Sorvino, the case was settled.
Despite the turmoil, del Toro remains proud of Mimic’s aesthetic. In his words, “I lost casting battles, I lost story battles, but Mimic is visually 100% exactly what I wanted.” The contentious project led to a hiatus from Hollywood, with del Toro returning to Spanish indie cinema for five years before reemerging in the US to direct Blade II. Whilst Mimic was no doubt a trial by fire that strengthened del Toro as the heavyweight director we know today, he still bears the scars.
“Two horrible things happened in the late ’90s: My father was kidnapped, and I worked with the Weinsteins,” del Toro once recalled. “I know which one was worse… the kidnapping made more sense. I knew what they wanted.”
