18 Facts about “Seven: The Seven Capital Crimes” — a movie that revolutionized crime genre productions

These days, amazing action scenes and unexpected plot twists in a movie aren’t as surprising as they used to be. And 25 years ago the movie Seven: The Seven Capital Crimes made a small revolution in detective films thanks to its unexpected ending, which, by the way, almost didn’t happen.

O awesome.club hopes you’ve already seen this masterpiece from the 1990s and are ready to read some fun facts about one of the most highly regarded films in the history of cinema. So be warned: there are spoilers in this post, so if you haven’t watched the feature, better watch it and then come back to read this post. Check out!

Andrew Kevin Walker wrote the screenplay for the film when he was extremely depressed, as after graduating from university, he was unable to break into the film industry for several years. Walker, however, found the script good and sent it to his colleague David Koepp, who helped him sell it to production company New Line Cinema. Like the character Mills, Andrew Kevin Walker didn’t know about all seven deadly sins until he did some research. The film’s director, David Fincher, was delighted with the film’s ending when he read the script. But his agent said they mistakenly sent him “the wrong draft”. And the director replied: “No. This is what we need” — and for a long time he had to convince the studio’s management that it was necessary to film such a risky ending at that time. Denzel Washington turned down the role to play Detective Mills, which ended up with Brad Pitt. He told Entertainment Weekly that the film was too “dark and evil”. Washington later regretted his decision upon seeing the final production. David Fincher was impressed by Gwyneth Paltrow’s performance in The Force of a Past (1993). She was his first choice for the role of Brad Pitt’s wife in the film. Paltrow was initially uninterested, so Fincher asked her then-boyfriend Brad Pitt to convince her to join the project.

During the filming of the John Doe chase scene, Brad Pitt broke his arm and the writers had to include the actor’s injury in the script. Director David Fincher wanted to find someone extremely thin to play the sin of avarice. When Michael Reid MacKay auditioned, he weighed 100 pounds. Fincher gave him the paper and jokingly told him to lose a little more weight. To his surprise, MacKay had lost another three pounds by the time filming began. The preparation of actor Leland Orser was no less difficult. According to the script, in the interrogation scene, he was supposed to have the slurred speech of a scared and exhausted person. For this small cameo, the actor didn’t sleep for two days, constantly drinking coffee to stay awake. More than 40 takes were taken for this scene, and during one of them, Orser even lost consciousness.

Kevin Spacey ended up becoming the leading candidate for the role of John Doe. However, his involvement in the production would cost the studio a fair amount, so Fincher was advised to find someone else. But Brad Pitt stepped in just in time and convinced studio bigwigs that Spacey was the perfect choice. Fincher kept Spacey’s participation a secret: the actor did not promote the film, did not have his name included in the opening credits, and did not appear in any of the production’s marketing materials. It was Spacey who came up with the idea that John Doe was bald. He proposed the idea to Fincher who said: “If you do this, so will I.” And both were bald by the end of filming. Every page of John Doe’s diaries was handwritten and drawn. It took two months of work and 15 thousand dollars were spent to produce. Actor Kevin Spacey’s involvement was not the only example of Brad Pitt’s influence on the production. His main requirement in accepting the role was that the film’s ending be exactly what was filmed and what made it to the big screen. That was even a clause in their contract.

In the final takes of the film, which were filmed in a helicopter, the actors were replaced by stunt doubles. And all because those scenes no longer fit into their busy schedules. Few people know, but a “sequel” to the movie was released in 2015. The movie is called Omens of a Crime🇧🇷 Well, initially the movie was planned as a sequel, but for some reason the idea was dropped and the script was rewritten for an original production. In 2008, a comic book of the same name based on the film was released. However, unlike the feature, the narration of the facts is told by John Doe. Brad Pitt, in an interview, commented on the public reaction in one of the premieres: “The movie ends, the lights come on and I look at the people. And they slowly get up from their seats, don’t say anything and leave. I remember looking at Fincher and asking, “What did we do wrong? What’s happening? I thought we had made a great movie!” — Fortunately, the film received a lot of positive reviews and grossed an impressive box office.

Many fans wished they had seen the terrible contents of the box, although in the scene only strands of the victim’s hair were visible. For everyone who couldn’t wait to see Gwyneth Paltrow’s head in the box, she prepared a Halloween costume with that reference.

Are you a fan of crime genre movies? What was the first feature film of its kind that you watched? Tell us in the comments section.