David Fincher finally told us what was in the Se7en box

Do you want to feel old? The crime thriller often known as “Se7en” celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, ending in 2025 with Re-release at IMAX locations Those who haven’t had the opportunity to enjoy it in theaters won’t want to miss it. This achievement also means that those of us of a certain age have spent the better part of three decades repeating an oft-repeated phrase every chance we get: “What’s in the box?” If you’ve never seen David Fincher’s poignant film noir and are somehow left in the dark about what actually happens in the film’s heart-stopping climax, well, this is your cue to leave now and avoid spoiling one of the biggest filmmaking flops of all time. 21st century for yourself.

Still here? good. As if having to watch disgraced actor Kevin Spacey play a sociopath wasn’t already scary enough, fans of Fincher’s dark story about a pair of cops hunting down a prolific serial killer had to endure one of the most dramatic finales. Density at all in the film. After spending the entire film oscillating between commitment to his tough career and the peaceful home life represented by his loving (and pregnant) wife, Tracy (Paltrow), Pitt’s rookie detective, Mills, sees the two worlds collide in the worst possible way. Killer John Doe, always one step ahead of our heroes, finally manipulates them into finding one final tragedy: Tracy’s severed head packed in a box. Although he never appears on screen, This bad ending helped Se7en earn its reputation as one of the darkest and most cynical films. Since then – but it has also left a series of questions in its wake.

Chief among these has always been whether or not Fincher and his crew went so far as to create a Paltrow-style prosthetic head (or even body) for Freeman’s veteran character Somerset to discover. Well, we can consider this mystery finally solved.

It’s fair to say that the success of “Se7en” has followed David Fincher throughout his career, for better or worse. On the one hand, his sophomore efforts opened up a world of opportunities for a talented, visionary filmmaker to make his mark. On the other hand, it is difficult to find yourself always living up to these high expectations. However, thirty years after the classic film’s 1995 release, Fincher is thrilled to revisit his morality play centered around the Seven Deadly Sins. At the top of the list, of course, remains the topic of what it actually is He was Inside that fateful box that Morgan Freeman opened in that dry, dusty desert.

While talking to Entertainment Weekly In a recent interview, Fincher put to rest any notion that he stooped to such shock and awe to elicit this reaction from both Brad Pitt and Freeman during filming. When asked if the rumors about the prosthetic head had any truth, he replied:

“No, it’s completely ridiculous. I think we had a bag of bullets that weighed seven or eight pounds. We did the research to see if Gwyneth Paltrow’s BMI is X, what part of that can be attributed to her head?” And so we had an idea of ​​what that would weigh, and I think there was weight in it.

And we put a wig in there, so when Morgan rips the box open and if there’s some of this tape that was used to seal the box – I think it was a bullet bag and a wig, and I think the wig had a little bit of blood in it, so some of the hair stuck with each other. Remember, I think Morgan opened 16 or 17 of those things (during filming).. But as I always say, you don’t need to see what’s in the box if you have Morgan Freeman.”

So, there you have it. Case closed. Ultimately, Fincher decided that realism only goes so far, and simply let his stars make the movie’s magic. Based on the final result, we can say he made the right choice. Be sure to check your local listings to see the IMAX re-release of “Se7en” this weekend in a theater near you.