While attending the Director's Guild Association's event to accept the Contenders Hall of Fame Award and to talk at length on his new feature Frankenstein, filmmaker Guillermo del Toro recalled infuriating instances which he said was worse than a pivotal incident from his childhood.
Talking to Deadline, del Tor recalled the 1997 event when his father was kidnapped in Mexico (and later returned) when he was asked if that or working with Miramax Studios' Weinstein brothers, for "more than 72 days," on his film Mimic, was worse.
“The Weinsteins, hands down,” he told the outlet. “Because on the other thing, you knew what they wanted. The Weinsteins, who the f**k knew what they wanted?”
Del Toro even went on to say that he had incorporated "images" and "moments" in Mimic that reflect his experience working with the notorious producers. He added that the kidnapping ordeal was relatively less unpredictable than what he had to endure with Weinsteins.
Notably, blockbuster filmmaker James Cameron had a role in bringing his father back, which, said del Toro, created a brotherly bonding between the two.
In Frankenstein, streaming on Netlix following an earlier limited theatrical release, Oscar Isaac plays Victor Frankenstein, the scientist who creates The Creature, played by Jacob Elordi. The other key cast members include Mia Goth, Christoph Waltz, Lars Mikkelsen, and Charles Dance.
Frankenstein also reunites del Toro with cinematographer Dan Laustsen, with whom the Oscar-winning filmmaker worked in Crimson Peak, The Shape of Water, and Nightmare Alley.
Also an author, del Toro is a winner of three Academy Awards. He won two — Best Picture, Best Director — for The Shape of Water, and the third for Best animated feature for Pinocchio (2023).
