10 Original Endings That Would Have Ruined Great Movies

9. Se7en (1995)

The Ending We Got: Having been put through the rigorous task of finding an endless stream of dead people killed in increasingly grotesque manners, Detectives Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman take a ride out to the desert with their new friend Kevin Spacey, the twisted serial killer nutbag responsible for all the murders.

When they arrive, Morgan Freeman opens a cardboard box and finds Brad Pitt's wife's head is inside. Kevin Spacey announces that his work is done, and Brad Pitt executes him at close range with a handgun and is arrested. After announcing that he will no longer be retiring, Morgan Freeman laments in his Morgan Freeman voice: "Ernest Hemingway once wrote 'the world is a fine place and worth fighting for.' I agree with the second part."

The Original Ending: Not so much the original ending, but the one that almost made it to our screens because the world is one big stinkin' 'fraidy cat. And what a travesty it would have been to have gone with this ending, which the studio so almost did. Instead of having Brad Pitt shoot Spacey in his head, Morgan Freeman was written to step in and shoot him instead before Pitt could pull the trigger. "What are you doing?!" yells Brad Pitt. "Retiring," deadpans Morgan Freeman, who has been planning to retire for the whole film and that's why that line works.

It's just not right for Se7en, is it? It's bleak, sure, but it just doesn't make sense. Brad Pitt loved Andrew Kevin Walker's scripted ending so much that he threatened to leave if it wasn't put back right where it belonged. And that was enough to get it restored, because Brad Pitt.