According to Cinema Blend, del Toro had put all of his money into “Mimic” and was unsure of how he was going to bring his father Federico home. UPROXX reports that the family even hired three hostage negotiators to no avail. After learning that del Toro’s father had been kidnapped, his old friend James Cameron stepped in. He took del Toro to a bank and gave him the $1 million he needed. In addition, he recommended a negotiator that could help the process. Federico was eventually safely returned after a harrowing 72 days, all thanks to Cameron.

No one was ever arrested for the kidnapping and the del Toro family left Mexico permanently shortly after. Del Toro has gone on to say that he wishes he could live and work in his home country but that the deep trauma from the ordeal has prevented him from doing so (per Hollywood). He later said that the two worst things that happened to him in the late ’90s were the kidnapping — and working on “Mimic” with the Weinsteins (via IndieWire).

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