Mimic Star Casts Doubt on Returning for New TV Series

While it might have been filmmaker Guillermo del Toro’s debut in the world of American movies, 1997’s Mimic failed to impress audiences when it was first released, with del Toro himself professing disappointment with the theatrical release before ultimately having the opportunity to release a Director’s Cut years later. The concept is currently being developed by Paul W.S. Anderson as a TV series, but we surely shouldn’t expect star of the original movie Mira Sorvino to make an appearance, not only due to her interest in other projects she’s working on, but also because the entire concept of the narrative personally made her uneasy. Luckily, fans can soon see Sorvino in her new STARZ series Shining Vale, which premieres on March 7th.

“Right now, I love being a part of this series so I’m not really looking for another series to be a part of,” Sorvino shared with ComicBook.com while promoting Shining Vale. “I do have a revulsion for cockroaches, so maybe I’m happy that that is done for me and in the past.” 

Even though her personal revulsion of the creatures in the film clearly left an impact on her, she did reflect on the experience of getting to work with del Toro, who would go on to be lauded as a visionary filmmaker with subsequent projects.

“But I sure loved working with Guillermo del Toro, what an incredible genius, and that was his first major American movie and, when I met with him, despite my misgivings about cockroaches, I was like, ‘Wow, like I’m not really a genre person, I’m not really a horror person, but if I’m ever going to go into this world, who better than to go into it than with this Gothic master?’” Sorvino pointed out. “Like, he showed me his notebooks with his drawings and poetry and just, I was blown away, and he has since become that person to the rest of the world, but that was a special experience, getting to work with him on his first big American movie.”

The story focuses on a group of deadly insects who have evolved to be able to replicate their prey, developing to the deadly degree of becoming large enough to be able to mimic humans after witnessing them travel through the subway. While it might not have made a major impact at the time, the concept did earn the film two sequels.

Luckily, fans can still see Sorvino in a genre-blending adventure with Shining Vale.

Shining Vale is a horror-comedy about a dysfunctional family that moves from the city to a small town into a house in which terrible atrocities have taken place. But no one seems to notice except for Pat, who’s convinced she’s either depressed or possessed — turns out, the symptoms are exactly the same. Patricia “Pat” Phelps (Courteney Cox) is a former “wild child” who rose to fame by writing a raunchy, drug-and-alcohol-soaked women’s empowerment novel (a.k.a. lady porn). Fast forward 17 years later, Pat is clean and sober but totally unfulfilled. She still hasn’t written her second novel, she can’t remember the last time she had sex with her husband (Greg Kinnear), and her teenage kids are at that stage where they want you dead. She was a faithful wife until her one slip-up: she had a torrid affair with the hot, young handyman who came over to fix the sink while Terry was at work. In a last-ditch effort to save their marriage, she and Terry cash in all their savings and move the family from the “crazy” of the city to a large, old house in the suburbs that has a storied past of its own. Everyone has their demons, but for Pat Phelps, they may be real.

Cox plays the lead role of Patricia “Pat” Phelps, with Kinnear playing her ever-optimistic husband, Terry Phelps, whose patience and self-control will be tested like never before. Sorvino plays Rosemary, who is either Pat’s alter ego, a split personality, her id, her muse, or a demon trying to possess her. Merrin Dungey plays Kam, Pat’s oldest friend and book editor. Gus Birney and Dylan Gage also star as Pat and Terry’s teenage kids, Gaynor and Jake.

Stay tuned for details on the Mimic TV series. Shining Vale premieres on STARZ on March 7th.

Would you like to see Sorvino return to the franchise? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!