52 Fun Facts About Se7en

In what year was Se7en released in theaters?

Se7en was released in 1995, opening wide in the United States on September 22, 1995, and topping the box office in its first weekend.

Who directed Se7en?

David Fincher directed Se7en, only his second feature; he was mistakenly sent the writer's original, bleaker draft of the script and fought to keep its grim ending.

Who plays the young detective David Mills?

Brad Pitt plays David Mills, the hot-headed young detective newly transferred to the city; Pitt cut his hair short and slimmed down so he would look less like a romantic lead.

Who plays Detective Lieutenant William Somerset?

Morgan Freeman plays Lieutenant William Somerset, the methodical veteran detective who is days from retirement when he is paired with the newly arrived Mills.

Which actor plays the killer, John Doe?

Kevin Spacey plays John Doe; at his request his name was kept out of the opening credits and the advertising so audiences would not guess the killer's identity.

Who plays Tracy, Mills's wife?

Gwyneth Paltrow plays the detective's wife, who confides in Somerset over coffee that she is pregnant and unhappy in the city.

John Doe's murders are patterned on which idea?

John Doe's murders follow the seven deadly sins; Somerset recognises the pattern after the first two killings and gives Mills Dante and Chaucer to read.

The obese man forced to eat until his stomach burst represents which sin?

Gluttony: the word is written in grease on the wall behind the victim's refrigerator; Bob Mack played the man force-fed until his stomach burst.

The victim forced to cut a pound of flesh from his own body was marked with which sin?

Greed is written in blood on the floor beside defense attorney Eli Gould, who was made to cut a pound of his own flesh, echoing The Merchant of Venice.

According to the photographs at the scene, how long was the sloth victim kept restrained to his bed?

One year: the dated Polaroids beside the bed show the killer photographed Victor, the sloth victim, over exactly twelve months; Michael Reid MacKay played him.

Which sin does John Doe claim to embody himself at the end?

Envy: in the car John Doe admits he envied Mills's ordinary life with his wife, so he killed her and made himself the envy victim.

Which sin is Mills goaded into completing in the final scene?

Wrath: Doe has the head of Mills's wife delivered in a box, and Mills completes the final sin by shooting him despite Somerset's pleas.

Who wrote the screenplay for Se7en?

Andrew Kevin Walker wrote Se7en while working at a Tower Records store in New York, channelling his dislike of the city into the screenplay's nameless, rain-soaked setting.

The older detective is named after which writer?

Somerset is named after W. Somerset Maugham, the British novelist the screenwriter admired; the detective's own reading list in the film runs to Dante, Chaucer and Milton.

Before Se7en, the director's only feature film was which one?

Alien 3 (1992) was Fincher's only earlier feature; the studio recut it, he disowned the result and was reluctant to direct again until Se7en's script reached him.

Se7en's unnamed city was shot on location in which real city?

Los Angeles stood in for the unnamed city; constant rain was kept in to hide the California sunshine and to dodge continuity problems between takes.

Which song, in a remixed version, plays over the opening title sequence?

"Closer" by Nine Inch Nails, in the Precursor remix by Coil and Danny Hyde, runs under the opening titles; the remix appears on the band's Closer to God single.

Which David Bowie song plays over the end credits?

"The Hearts Filthy Lesson", the lead single from David Bowie's album 1. Outside, plays over Se7en's closing credits.

Who composed the score for Se7en?

Howard Shore composed Se7en's brooding orchestral score; he had already scored several David Cronenberg films and later wrote the music for The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Which designer created the film's scratched, hand-made title sequence?

Kyle Cooper designed the jittery, hand-scratched title sequence while at R/GA; The New York Times later called it one of the most important design innovations of the 1990s.

Which studio produced and released Se7en?

New Line Cinema produced and released Se7en on a budget of about $33 million; the studio wanted a less bleak ending, but the director and stars held firm.

Which actor turned down John Doe, calling the script "the most evil thing I've ever read"?

Ned Beatty declined the part, calling the script the most evil thing he had ever read; the role went to an actor kept out of the film's marketing.

Which rock frontman was considered for John Doe but was unavailable because his band was touring?

Michael Stipe of R.E.M. was considered for John Doe, but the band's Monster tour made him unavailable; the part went to a then little-known actor.

How did Pitt injure his hand during production, an injury then written into the script?

He insisted on his own stunts, slipped on a rain-slicked hood and cut tendons and nerves; the cast on his forearm is real.

Pitt was only available for 55 days because he was due to start shooting which film?

12 Monkeys, Terry Gilliam's time-travel thriller, was due to start shooting in Philadelphia, limiting Pitt to 55 days on Se7en; the crew filmed through the rain rather than wait it out.

Roughly how much did Se7en gross worldwide?

Se7en grossed about $327 million worldwide on a $33 million budget, with roughly $100 million coming from North America, a huge return for the studio.

Which studio production president sided with the director in keeping the original ending?

Michael De Luca, the studio's president of production, backed the director's insistence on the original head-in-the-box ending against executives who wanted something more conventional.

Se7en opened at number one with $14M, beating the debut of which notorious film?

Showgirls, Paul Verhoeven's NC-17 drama, opened the same September weekend, taking about $8 million while Se7en debuted at number one.

Who was the cinematographer on Se7en?

Darius Khondji, the Iranian-French cinematographer of Delicatessen and The City of Lost Children, shot Se7en and later earned an Oscar nomination for Evita.

The cinematographer named which 1971 thriller as a major visual influence?

Klute (1971), Alan J. Pakula's thriller shot by Gordon Willis, was the visual touchstone for Se7en's murky, underlit interiors and deep shadows.

Se7en's only Academy Award nomination came in which category?

Best Film Editing was Se7en's lone nomination at the 68th Academy Awards in March 1996; the award that night went to Apollo 13.

Which director was originally hired to make Se7en, before being replaced?

Jeremiah S. Chechik, director of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, was first attached; he worked from a revised draft without the head-in-the-box ending and left before filming.

The screenwriter originally pictured which actor as Somerset?

William Hurt was the actor the screenwriter had in mind for Somerset; the studio and director instead cast a different star, and Somerset's wry weariness was reshaped around him.

Which actor auditioned for John Doe and ended up playing the police captain instead?

R. Lee Ermey, the Full Metal Jacket drill instructor, read for John Doe; the director thought his take lacked depth and cast him as the gruff police captain instead.

What cameo does the screenwriter make in the film?

The screenwriter appears as the corpse in the opening scene, the shooting victim Somerset examines before meeting Mills; he is credited simply as 'Dead Man'.

Which reality TV series influenced the film's over-the-shoulder camera style?

Cops, the Fox reality series, inspired the handheld, over-the-shoulder shots that follow the detectives into buildings, giving the viewer a sense of tagging along.

Which lab process was used on some prints to keep the blacks deeper and darker?

Bleach bypass skips the bleaching step of processing so silver stays in the print, deepening the blacks and draining colour; the costly treatment went on only a limited number of prints.

Somerset's closing voiceover quotes which author on the world being "worth fighting for"?

Ernest Hemingway: Somerset closes by quoting his line from For Whom the Bell Tolls, 'The world is a fine place and worth fighting for,' adding that he agrees with the second part.

Which publisher released a seven-issue prequel comic about John Doe in 2006-07?

Zenescope Entertainment published the seven-issue Se7en comic in 2006-07, one issue per sin, exploring John Doe's preparations; a novelization by Anthony Bruno had accompanied the film's original release.

What was the working title of the sequel New Line proposed in 2002?

Ei8ht was the proposed sequel's title; its script gave Somerset psychic powers, and the director said he would rather have cigarettes put out in his eyes than make it.

The abandoned sequel script was eventually filmed as which standalone 2015 thriller?

Solace, directed by Afonso Poyart, was the eventual film; Anthony Hopkins plays a psychic helping the FBI hunt a killer, and it was poorly received.

In which year did Se7en receive a one-week IMAX re-release?

2025: Se7en returned to IMAX screens for one week in January 2025, with a 4K restoration supervised by the director arriving on Ultra HD disc the same month.

How do the detectives first find John Doe's apartment?

Doe was photographing them at that very sloth scene, posing as a nosy journalist.

Whose face appears in a four-frame insert as Mills pulls the trigger?

Tracy: a few frames of her face flash on screen as Mills fires, a subliminal insert the editor added to stand in for the unseen contents of the box.

Which actor plays California, the SWAT team leader who finds the sloth victim alive?

John C. McGinley, later Dr. Cox on Scrubs, plays California, the SWAT leader who breaks into the sloth victim's apartment and jumps back when the man coughs.

Pitt insisted on keeping the dark ending because which earlier film of his had its ending cut after test screenings?

Legends of the Fall (1994) had its ending altered after test screenings, which convinced Pitt to make Se7en's grim finale a condition of his contract.

How long is the theatrical cut of Se7en?

127 minutes is the theatrical running time, a little over two hours; the cutting accelerates toward the desert finale as John Doe's plan is revealed.

Se7en's composer was hired on the strength of his score for which 1991 thriller?

The Silence of the Lambs (1991): the composer's brooding, understated work on that Oscar-winning thriller persuaded the director to hire him for Se7en.

What device does Somerset set ticking on his nightstand to help him sleep?

A metronome: Somerset sets one ticking on his bedside table each night to block out the noise of the city while he tries to sleep.

Where did Se7en's worldwide gross rank it among the films of its release year?

Seventh: Se7en finished as the seventh-highest-grossing film of its year worldwide, behind titles such as Toy Story, Die Hard with a Vengeance and GoldenEye.

Which Italian company first optioned Walker's script in the early 1990s?

Penta Film, the Italian production company, optioned the script with producer Phyllis Carlyle; after Penta ran into financial trouble the rights passed to producer Arnold Kopelson, who set it up at a Hollywood studio.

Who was the film editor on Se7en?

Richard Francis-Bruce, an Australian-born editor, cut Se7en; he had just finished The Shawshank Redemption and went on to edit The Rock and Air Force One.