✎ Editor’s notes on 18 facts

FILM · 1995 · USA

Se7en

Directed by: David Fincher
Runtime: 127 min
Studio: New Line Cinema, Juno Pix, Arnold Kopelson Productions

18 archived facts 2 topics 2 sources Last reviewed Oct 2026

Two homicide detectives are on a desperate hunt for a serial killer whose crimes are based on the "seven deadly sins" in this dark and haunting film that takes viewers from the tortured remains of one victim to the next. The seasoned Det. Somerset researches each sin in an effort to get inside the killer's mind, while his novice partner, Mills, scoffs at his efforts to unravel the case.

18 Interesting Facts About Se7en

Name: Se7en
Released: 1995

Interesting Facts (3)

#001
"Se7en" ended up setting an odd record when it was recognized by a popular electronic-trivia system used in the U.S. as part of a question that was easily the most wrongly-answered one in the system's history. The question was, "What city does SE7EN take place in?" Most respondents answered New York City, with the remainder being divided between other Northeastern cities (including Boston and Philadelphia) and only a few correctly answering that the location of the film is unspecified.
Editor’s noteArka Evren
This is one of the most interesting bits of trivia about a film I've ever come across. The fact that people ask which city, state, country, location Se7en takes place in might be one of the earliest examples of today's similarly unanswerable questions. For instance, someone might ask, "In how many different films has Batman died at the end?" and there'll be people who say two, three. But those who say "He's never died" will be in the minority. Knowing that, though, is about having a command of the Batman universe. Most likely, the question "Where does Se7en take place?" was answered correctly by the minority who know the film and its behind-the-scenes.
sufferwithme / Founder / Editor
Seven (1995): Brad Pitt at the crime sceneImage: IMDb
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#002
Brad Pitt says the word "oof" a total of five times in the movie.
Editor’s noteArka Evren
This needed to be pointed out. Because this is a bleak film and they're constantly chasing a serial killer, trying to find him. Naturally Brad Pitt isn't happy with the situation and can say "off." Him saying "off" here is actually about the film progressing the right way. The character feels helpless and wants to express it somehow.
sufferwithme / Founder / Editor
Seven (1995): The moment Brad Pitt speaksImage: IMDb
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#003
The word "fuck" and its derivatives are said a discernible 74 times throughout the movie, mostly by Brad Pitt.
Editor’s noteArka Evren
Brad Pitt saying the f*ck word 74 times in this film has to do with the case they can't crack. The killer's intelligence is clear in the film, and while he references the 7 deadly sins, he reveals the last one through Brad Pitt's character, and that's down to David Fincher turning in a good performance too.
By the way, there was something that caught my attention in the film. The camera angles were mostly vertical, looking up from below average height. The director made an interesting choice here. The angles aren't all that aesthetic or different, but there's a line that looks slightly upward from below. By line I mean the camera doing this for part of the film.
Brad Pitt uses the f*ck word this much because he isn't chasing some stupid serial killer, because he's constantly one step behind, and because they just can't catch the culprit.
sufferwithme / Founder / Editor
Seven (1995): Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman face to faceImage: IMDb
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Production Story (15)

#004
According to Brad Pitt, there was originally a scene where Mills and Somerset discussed "thumb recall"; cut off the thumb of anyone convicted of a violent crime, and there's no way they'd be able to fire a gun. The scene was ultimately cut from the film, because they were afraid someone would "roll with it."
Editor’s noteArka Evren
We live in a world where people might want to try out something fictional from a fictional world like Se7en. There are such wild things around this stuff. For example, when Süleyman Çakır died in the Turkish series Kurtlar Vadisi, people held a funeral for him. There are plenty of idiots in the US too. There are a lot of dangerous people in various parts of the US. Prisons were far harsher places back when the film was made than they are today, and we get that from Oz, even if it's fiction. The first season of Prison Break had guards bullying people too. In The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, the guards seemed to torture the inmates. The prison environment has always been a dirty, filthy place anyway. Even though there have been improvements in some parts of the world today, there are still plenty of terrible places.
The idea was good, but the fact they didn't publish it comes down to the stupidity of people who can't manage to separate art from reality.
sufferwithme / Founder / Editor
Seven (1995): Mills and Somerset at the crime sceneImage: IMDb
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#005
David Fincher told Kevin Spacey and Brad Pitt "this is not going to be the movie that you're remembered for, but it may be a movie you're incredibly proud of."
Editor’s noteArka Evren
David Fincher said the right thing. Se7en doesn't get mentioned much either, and neither Kevin Spacey nor Brad Pitt gets mentioned much today for these films. For instance, Brad Pitt gets mentioned plenty for Fight Club. Or he gets mentioned, or can get mentioned, for lower-quality films too, but neither Se7en nor the characters Kevin Spacey and Brad Pitt played in these films have earned them much of a place in the film world today. Still, I can say the film is satisfying.
sufferwithme / Founder / Editor
Seven (1995): Brad Pitt and Kevin Spacey on the set of SevenImage: IMDb
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#006
Before Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt were cast, Al Pacino and Denzel Washington were early choices for Somerset and Mills, respectively. Pacino declined, as he was already scheduled to film City Hall (1996), and Washington turned down the offer, deeming the film to be "too dark." Both actors have expressed regret in not taking their individual offers.
Editor’s noteArka Evren
If I'm only going to say something about this one point, the film is, as Washington himself put it, "a little, even more than a little dark," and throughout the film you get the impression that dark clouds are hanging overhead.
Also, when a director offers roles to actors, they turn the film down, the film gets made with the actors who come in to replace them, and after it's finished and released those actors feel regret for not accepting the offers — that means you've made this film.
sufferwithme / Founder / Editor
Seven (1995): Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman togetherImage: IMDb
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#007
Denzel Washington turned down the role of Mills that went to Brad Pitt, telling Entertainment Weekly that the film was too "dark and evil." Washington later regretted his decision upon seeing a screening.
Editor’s noteArka Evren
Denzel Washington turned down the Mills role that Brad Pitt took, and he may have regretted it after seeing a screening. But his wording is right: dark and sinister. I don't think the dark and sinister here refers to the negative behaviors the film might bring out in people. It would be more accurate to say he was talking about the film's atmosphere, its ambience. Maybe he did mean that, but the truth is the truth.
sufferwithme / Founder / Editor
Seven (1995): Pitt and Freeman in SevenImage: IMDb
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#008
Kevin Spacey was cast two days before filming began.
Editor’s noteArka Evren
Kevin Spacey is a successful actor who's always played his roles well. Even if it came out two days ago, he's someone who knows what acting is. There were harassment allegations about him on House of Cards; I haven't looked into them, but that's a negative thing about him that stuck in my mind.
sufferwithme / Founder / Editor
Seven (1995): Kevin Spacey and Richard Schiff in the cellImage: IMDb
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#009
David Fincher wanted the credits to look like a killer had written them.
Editor’s noteArka Evren
I've heard a lot of great ideas about films over the years. This is one of them. Presenting a man who chases a serial killer from the start of the film to the end and finally finds him, but falls into the killer's trap because of his own ambition, like a title sequence made by that serial killer at the film's opening — that's a nice move. David Fincher also directed Fight Club and did very successful work there. I've watched Fight Club at least 5 times, and every time I enjoyed it as if I were watching it for the first time.
sufferwithme / Founder / Editor
Seven (1995): Detectives examining handwritten notesImage: IMDb
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#010
Brad Pitt turned down Apollo 13 (1995) to do this film instead.
Editor’s noteArka Evren
Apollo 13 isn't a bad film. Of course, when it comes to Se7en, Apollo 13 fades into the background. Se7en is a cult classic, a real film. Apollo 13 is good too, but it's a step behind. He made a sensible choice. Sometimes actors — and not just actors, directors too — make the wrong choices, plenty of times. I don't know what Brad Pitt saw in this film, I don't know if he was impressed by the script, but the choice he made was the right call for him.
sufferwithme / Founder / Editor
Seven (1995): Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt in SevenImage: IMDb
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#011
Sylvester Stallone turned down the role of Mills. He told "Ain't It Cool News" that this was a mistake.
Editor’s noteArka Evren
Yeeeesss. Just as I said above, actors, directors, film composers... They can make a lot of wrong decisions. Whether it's a lack of vision, failing to see the film's potential, not fully understanding the script, I can't say. But if you ask me, Sylvester Stallone wouldn't have been a good fit for the Mills role. Brad Pitt was the better call, though even better calls could have been made than Brad Pitt. By the way, I think Al Pacino and Sylvester Stallone look alike.
sufferwithme / Founder / Editor
Seven (1995): Sylvester Stallone at eventImage: Wikimedia Commons · nicolas genin from Paris, France, CC BY-SA 2.0
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#012
Brad Pitt earned $7 million for starring in this film.
Editor’s noteArka Evren
I don't remember which film it was, I think it was Fight Club, and I remember he earned 25 million dollars on that one too. The man was the heartthrob of the world at the time. And there's the acting too.
sufferwithme / Founder / Editor
Seven (1995): Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman together in a sceneImage: IMDb
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#013
Val Kilmer turned down the role of John Doe.
Editor’s noteArka Evren
Another rejection. I've never seen this many rejections in any other film. For instance, let me put it this way. Before Breaking Bad aired, its creator Vince Gilligan went to FX, went to Showtime, went to HBO, and none of them accepted it, for various reasons. Only AMC accepted it. I don't like AMC, by the way. It both cheapened a series like The Walking Dead, for financial reasons, and milked it dry without ever letting it end. But AMC accepted it and the best series in TV history got its start. I wonder what the channels that turned this series down thought afterward?
sufferwithme / Founder / Editor
Seven (1995): Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman togetherImage: IMDb
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#014
David Fincher was initially turned off by the screenplay, because it sounded too much like a generic buddy cop movie.
Editor’s noteArka Evren
As I said just below, the story isn't all that complicated. There aren't that many different factors at play. What makes Se7en what it is, is that thing in the final scene that foreigners call a "mindfuck." It was as if the film was building up to that scene from start to finish. But some things happen too fast.
sufferwithme / Founder / Editor
Seven (1995): The detective duo Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman in SevenImage: IMDb
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#015
Filming began on December 12, 1994 and ended on February 5, 1995 after 1 month, 7 weeks, or 55 days of filming.
Editor’s noteArka Evren
You feel something missing in the film, there's a pace to it, you feel that, things move fast in the film. Actually the story isn't all that complicated either.
sufferwithme / Founder / Editor
Seven (1995): Dark room scene in SevenImage: IMDb
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#016
According to David Fincher, Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman were perfect during the first read-through of the script.
Editor’s noteArka Evren
So David Fincher got along well with Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. In one of the trivia items below, they're the two actors who backed what he did for the ending of Alien 3. While most actors and directors turned Se7en down, the two of them stayed and acted in this film. In fact, as seen in one of the trivia items on this page, Brad Pitt turned down Apollo 13 to act in this film.
sufferwithme / Founder / Editor
Seven (1995): Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman togetherImage: IMDb
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#017
David Cronenberg was offered a chance to direct this, but he turned it down.
Editor’s noteArka Evren
From what I can see, this film was offered to a lot of directors and actors, and they all turned it down. I think most of that was down to a lack of vision. But the film has cult status today. Se7en isn't in my top 10 films, but it makes the top 20. One reason I don't put it in the top 10 is that I think something's missing from the film. I liked Taxi Driver the first time I watched it. But that film gave me a bad smell too. So much loneliness, porn, someone with a messed-up psyche, a man who doesn't know how to approach women, murders at the end, a weird haircut, suspecting a man's wife is cheating on him while he drives a taxi, Robert De Niro standing in front of the mirror making psychologically troubled remarks like "Are you talking to me?", the filth of the roads while driving a cab, the sketchiness of the surroundings, prostitutes and plenty of other things kept Taxi Driver out of my top 10 too. What I felt the first time I watched it and my perspective now are quite different. In fact, Robert De Niro went to a military base in Italy to observe for this film. He took a small fee. He said not everyone can play a film like this, it takes a different psychology, and he played it. But the film's ambience is negative, just as I always feel in Martin Scorsese films.
sufferwithme / Founder / Editor
Seven (1995): Seven final scene walkImage: IMDb
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#018
Guillermo del Toro turned down the chance to direct, because as a romantic, he didn't subscribe to the script's dark view of the world.
Editor’s noteArka Evren
This isn't a lack of vision or a mistake or a wrong call. It's about a difference in style. Every director has a style. Or rather, good directors have a style. If you look at average people, the number of people with style in this world is small. A director like Iñárritu has a style, for instance; he talks about existence, about the pain the brain endures. 23 Grams is one of the most concrete examples of that.
sufferwithme / Founder / Editor
Seven (1995): Brad Pitt and Gwyneth Paltrow at dinnerImage: IMDb
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Wikipedia English Wikipedia article
IMDb IMDb title page (trivia)

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