8 Early Drafts That Almost Ruined Iconic Movie Endings
4. Se7en
David Fincher's psychological thriller Se7en almost ended very differently to the 'What's in the box!?' ending we all know and love. The studio releasing the film were worried about such a bleak ending, and tried almost anything to get the finale altered - but a clause in Pitt's contract meant he had the last say on how the film would play out. And thank goodness he did.
Se7en sees Kevin Spacey playing the serial killer John Doe, who stylises his crimes on the seven deadly sins. Pursuing the evasive criminal are detectives Mills (Brad Pitt) and Somerset (Morgan Freeman), who remain one step behind at all times. After five murders have taken place, Doe hands himself in, and will reveal the last two victims only under specific circumstances.
The Ending
Taking the detectives to the middle of the desert, Doe reveals he killed Mills' pregnant wife Tracey out of envy of their perfect family dynamic, and had her head delivered in a UPS box to him in the remote location.
Mills shoots him out of wrath, and Doe's representation of the seven sins is complete. You can watch this absolute classic shock-ending below, and revel in its quotability.
The Original
New Line Cinema were so desperate to avoid the dark ending that they wanted to put Mills' dog's head in the box instead, which would have completely undermined the tone of the film and of Doe's final representation of the sins.
They also toyed with turning the ending into a typical race against time to save Tracey, but both Fincher and Pitt adamantly refused any of the ideas the studio put forward.
Definitely the right decision.