History Trivia / Se7en

* ExecutiveMeddling: Somerset's Creator/ErnestHemingway quote at the end of the film was a sop to producers complaining about the film's extremely dark ending. Creator/DavidFincher's original plan was to have the film cut or fade to black immediately after Mills shoots Doe in the head.

** The actor who played the Sloth victim (Michael Reid [=MacKay=]) was instructed by Fincher (in order to create the impression that [[spoiler: Victor is dead]]) not to breathe during his scene.

* SparedByTheCut: One of the rewritten endings involved John Doe kidnapping Mills. Somerset discovers that Doe was raised by an abusive priest in a church orphanage. He finally traces Doe to a decrepit church decorated with artwork depicting the Seven Deadly Sins, where Doe is intent on making Somerset murder him out of vengeance. As Somerset arrives, Doe has cut a cross in Mills's chest, has suspended him above an altar, and shoots him. Mills finally dies in Somerset's arms as the church is set on fire. Doe and Somerset subsequently engage in a shootout, with Somerset wounding Doe and letting him die in the flames. The script ends with Mills's funeral.
* StillbornFranchise: [[ArcNumber Seven]] years after the movie was released, there were plans for a sequel called (wait for it) ''[=Ei8ht=]'', telling the story of a psychic cop (Somerset) who developed a connection with the serial killer he was hunting. Creator/DavidFincher commented that he would rather have cigarettes put out in his eye than ruin ''[=Se7en=]'' with such a ridiculous sequel concept. The sequel was eventually scrapped when Creator/MorganFreeman also refused to return, but the idea evolved into the 2015 movie ''Film/{{Solace}}'' (starring Creator/AnthonyHopkins as the psychic).

** Mills' mispronounciation of the Creator/MarquisDeSade's name was an ad-lib by Creator/BradPitt. The first time he did it, Creator/MorganFreeman laughed out loud and said "Even Mills isn't that stupid!" Clearly, Fincher disagreed.
** [[spoiler: Mills angrily pressing his gun into John Doe's head shortly after his "What's in the box?" line]] was reportedly improvised by Pitt in the heat of the moment, slightly corroborated by [[spoiler: the small smirk Creator/KevinSpacey can be seen giving afterwards]].

** An alternate ending revealed that [[spoiler: John Doe did not murder Mills's wife, only substituting a lookalike. Mills then has no justification for killing an unarmed man and will spend the rest of his life in jail. Somerset decides not to retire and instead gives his country house to Mills's wife and her unborn baby]]. Another alternate ending features [[BloodstainedGlassWindows a dramatic shootout in a burning, dilapidated church]] [[spoiler: in which Mills dies]], and yet ''another'' had [[spoiler: ''Somerset'' killing John Doe in order to [[SparingThemTheDirtyWork save Mills from becoming "Wrath."]] In the finished film, the foreshadowing that Somerset will have to actually shoot his gun (or use his knife) is kept, but nothing comes out of it with the ending changed.]]
** However, ExecutiveMeddling did have its way, as [[spoiler: the resolution of Somerset reciting the Hemingway quote]] was studio-mandated. The ending Fincher originally wanted (and prefers more) had [[spoiler: the film stopping ''immediately'' after Mills first shoots Doe and holding on black for a good 10 seconds]].

* DyeingForYourArt: [[spoiler:Creator/KevinSpacey]] shaved his head to play John Doe, on the condition that Creator/DavidFincher do so as well.

* FollowTheLeader: Compare it with later ThemeSerialKiller flicks like ''Film/{{Resurrection|1999}}''[[note]]A ''blatant'' rip-off starring Creator/ChristopherLambert and Creator/LelandOrser (who also played the man forced by John Doe at gunpoint to rape the Lust victim to death)[[/note]], ''Film/TakingLives'', ''Film/{{Anamorph}}'', ''Film/{{Horsemen}}'', ''WΔZ'', ''Film/SuspectZero'' or ''Franchise/{{Saw}}''. Of course that's not to say ''[=Se7en=]'' didn't borrow some elements from ''Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'' (and, for that matter, ''Film/TheAbominableDrPhibes''...).

* OnSetInjury: While filming the chase scene, Creator/BradPitt slipped on the hood of a car and went through the windscreen, cutting his hand in the process. The injury was written into Mills' character, though, to Pitt's disappointment, the scene showing the injury was cut.

* SparedByTheCut: One of the re-written endings involved John Doe kidnapping Mills. Somerset discovers that Doe was raised by an abusive priest in a church orphanage. He finally traces Doe to a decrepit church decorated with artwork depicting the Seven Deadly Sins, where Doe is intent on making Somerset murder him out of vengeance. As Somerset arrives, Doe has cut a cross in Mills' chest, has suspended him above an altar and shoots him. Mills finally dies in Somerset's arms as the church is set on fire. Doe and Somerset subsequently engage in a shootout, with Somerset wounding Doe and letting him die in the flames. The script ends with Mills' funeral.

** [[spoiler:Mills angrily pressing his gun into John Doe's head shortly after his "What's in the box?" line]] was reportedly improvised by Pitt in the heat of the moment, slightly corroborated by [[spoiler:the small smirk Creator/KevinSpacey can be seen giving afterwards]].

** An alternate ending revealed that [[spoiler:John Doe did not murder Mills' wife, only substituting a lookalike. Mills then has no justification for killing an unarmed man, and will spend the rest of his life in jail. Somerset decides not to retire, and instead gives his country house to Mills' wife and her unborn baby]]. Another alternate ending features [[BloodstainedGlassWindows a dramatic shootout in a burning, dilapidated church]] [[spoiler: in which Mills dies]], and yet ''another'' had [[spoiler: ''Somerset'' killing John Doe in order to [[SparingThemTheDirtyWork save Mills from becoming "Wrath."]] In the finished film, the foreshadowing that Somerset will have to actually shoot his gun (or use his knife) is kept, but nothing comes out of it with the ending changed.]]
** However, ExecutiveMeddling did have its way, as [[spoiler:the resolution of Somerset reciting the Hemingway quote]] was studio-mandated. The ending Fincher originally wanted (and prefers more) had [[spoiler:the film stopping ''immediately'' after Mills first shoots Doe and holding on black for a good 10 seconds]].

* DoingItForTheArt: All of the books in John Doe's apartment? They're ''all real.'' One of the special effects companies hired for the film spent two months ''hand-writing every single one of them''; this was mostly handled by one guy who showed exceptional talent at writing journals like a crazy insane sociopath. He even included an authentic suicide note...

** The official novelization by Anthony Bruno has gone out of print. Unlike the comics, though, it‘s nowhere near as expensive and is pretty easy to find secondhand. It’s also available to read on the Internet Archive’s [[https://archive.org/details/seven0000brun/page/1/mode/1up?ref=ol&view=theater Open Library]].

** The official novelization by Anthony Bruno has gone out of print. Unlike the comics, though, it‘s nowhere near as expensive and is pretty easy to find secondhand.

* SerendipityWritesThePlot: Originally, New Line Cinema [[ExecutiveMeddling had no intention of using]] the infamous DownerEnding of Andrew Kevin Walker's first draft, and Walker reluctantly went along with it. However, when contacting David Fincher, they actually sent him the wrong version of the script -- i.e., Walker's original vision. which was faithfully adapted into the film itself. Fincher read it, loved it, and joined the production, and then refused to change the ending when the executives objected.

** However, ExecutiveMeddling did have its way, as [[spoiler:the resolution of Somerset reciting the Hemingway quote]] was studio-mandated. The ending Fincher originally wanted (and prefers more) had [[spoiler:the film stopping ''immediately'' after Mills first shot Doe and holding on black for a good 10 seconds]].
** When the movie was first pitched to execs, they had the screenwriter revise the film so it would be more marketable (happier ending, not as bleak, etc.). But when they sent the script to Creator/DavidFincher, they accidentally sent him the original script instead of the revised one. Before they could correct their mistake, Fincher refused to make this film if the revised script was used.

* {{Blooper}}: When the detectives take the "upside down" picture off the wall, we can clearly see that its wire is on the top third of its frame, so it was hanging in the correct orientation for its frame.

** Creator/BradPitt hurt his hand[[note]] via said extremity getting cut on a windshield [[/note]] filming the scene in which his character chases John Doe. Although [[{{Irony}} the script required a (probably minor) injury]], the cast and such were written into the film.

*** [=MacKay=] is also the center of another, well-circulated example -- as he weighed 96 lbs. at his audition, Fincher joked that he could have the part if he dropped another ten; much to Fincher's surprise and horror, [=MacKay=] dropped six. However, [=MacKay=] claims that this is actually only a rumor, and the way it really went was that he joked about having lost weight for the role, and Fincher apparently thought he was serious.

** An alternate ending revealed that [[spoiler:John Doe did not murder Mills' wife, only substituting a lookalike. Mills then has no justification for killing an unarmed man, and will spend the rest of his life in jail. Somerset decides not to retire, and instead gives his country house to Mills' wife and her unborn baby]]. Another alternate ending features [[BloodstainedGlassWindows a dramatic shootout in a burning, dilapidated church]] [[spoiler: in which Mills dies]], and yet ''another'' had [[spoiler: ''Somerset'' killing John Doe in order to save Mills from becoming "Wrath." In the finished film, the foreshadowing that Somerset will have to actually shoot his gun (or use his knife) is kept, but nothing comes out of it with the ending changed.]]

* DivorcedInstallment: A sequel called ''[=Ei8ht=]'' was talked about where Somerset gets PsychicPowers. It was eventually released as a separate movie under the title, ''Film/{{Solace}}'' in 2015.
* DoingItForTheArt: All of the books in John Doe's apartment? They're ''all real.'' One of the special effects companies hired for the film spent two months ''hand-writing every single one of them'', mostly by one guy who showed exceptional talent at writing journals like a crazy insane sociopath. He even included an authentic suicide note...

* EnforcedMethodActing: During the Sloth victim discovery scene, [[spoiler: there's a big startle when the apparent corpse on the bed coughs and starts moving, revealing himself to still be alive, albeit totally gone.]] None of the SWAT team were made aware of the moment before filming, thinking they were dealing with [[spoiler: a prop corpse, not an actor]]. The first take, with their organic shocked reactions, was the one used in the film.

** The actor who played the Sloth victim (Michael Reid [=MacKay=]) weighed 96 lbs. at his audition, and Creator/DavidFincher joked that he could have the part if he dropped another ten. Much to Fincher's surprise and horror, [=MacKay=] dropped six.
*** [=MacKay=] claims that the above is actually only a rumor - he joked to Creator/DavidFincher that he had lost weight for the role, and Fincher apparently thought he was serious. On the other hand, Fincher did tell him (in order to create the impression that [[spoiler: Victor is dead]]) not to breathe.

* OnSetInjury: While filming the chase scene, Creator/BradPitt slipped on the hood of a car and went through the windscreen, cutting his had in the process. The injury was added to the film, though, to Pitt's disappointment, the scene showing the injury was cut.

* QuoteSource:
** RedOniBlueOni

* DivorcedInstallment: A sequel called ''[=Ei8ht=]'' was talked about where Somerset gets PsychicPowers. It was eventually released as a separate movie under the title, ''Film{{Solace}}'' in 2015.