Details

Release year: 1997

Storyline

Three years ago, entomologist Dr. Susan Tyler genetically created an insect to kill cockroaches carrying a virulent disease. Now, the insects are out to destroy their only predator, mankind.

Top credits

Directors

Guillermo del Toro

Writers

Cast

Mira Sorvino — Susan Tyler
Jeremy Northam — Dr. Peter Mann
Alexander Goodwin — Chuy
Giancarlo Giannini — Manny

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Did you know

• Director Guillermo del Toro disowned the film after constant clashes with Harvey Weinstein and Bob Weinstein. The latter complained that early footage of the film wasn't scary enough, and would frequently visit the set to make unreasonable demands about what should be shot, deviating away from the script. When that did not solve the matter, Weinstein threatened to fire del Toro and replace him with another director. However, del Toro was saved by the intervention of Mira Sorvino, who was a recent Oscar winner for Mighty Aphrodite (1995) (produced by Weinstein's company Miramax). She threatened to quit the film if del Toro's vision wasn't respected, and she received support from her then-boyfriend Quentin Tarantino, who has made several films for Miramax. The Weinsteins finally agreed to let del Toro stay on, but they oversaw the final cut of the film. Since then, del Toro has never worked with the Weinsteins again, but he made his peace with the film after creating a Director's Cut that was closer to his vision.

• Part of Guillermo del Toro's unhappiness with the theatrical version of the movie came from the fact that it contained a lot of shots filmed by the second unit crew, which he found inconsistent with his use of colors and camera set-up. He re-edited the film into a Director's cut that was closer to his original vision, stating that if viewers are still unhappy with this version, then at least he is entirely to blame.

• According to Guillermo del Toro, both Mira Sorvino and Jeremy Northam could not stand each other on set.