Se7en Director David Fincher Finally Revealed What Was In The Box

Do you want to feel old? The acclaimed crime thriller often stylized as "Se7en" celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, ringing in 2025 with a re-release in IMAX locations that those who haven't had a chance to enjoy in theaters simply won't want to miss. That milestone also means that those of us of a certain age have spent the better part of three decades reciting one oft-repeated refrain every chance we had: "What's in the box?" If you've never seen the influential David Fincher noir and somehow remain blissfully unaware of what actually goes down in the film's heart-stopping climax, well, this is your cue to leave right now and avoid spoiling one of the biggest filmmaking twists of the 21st century for yourself.

Still here? Good. As if having to watch disgraced actor Kevin Spacey play a total sociopath wasn't already scary enough, fans of Fincher's grimy tale about a pair of cops hunting down a prolific serial killer had to endure one of the most intense final acts ever committed to film. After spending the entire movie wobbling between his commitment to his punishing career and the peaceful domestic life represented by his loving (and pregnant) wife Tracy (Paltrow), Pitt's hotshot rookie detective Mills sees both worlds collide in the worst possible way. The killer John Doe, always one step ahead of our heroes, finally manipulates them into stumbling upon one final tragedy: the decapitated head of Tracy packed into a box. Although never once shown on screen, this nasty ending helped earned "Se7en" its reputation as one of the bleakest and most cynical genre movies of its time — but it also left a trail 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 prosthetic head (or even a body) modeled after Paltrow for Freeman's veteran character Somerset to uncover. Well, we can consider this one mystery finally solved.

It's fair to say that the success of "Se7en" has followed David Fincher throughout his entire career, for better or worse. On one hand, his sophomore effort opened up a world of opportunities for a clearly talented and visionary filmmaker to make his mark. On the other, it's tough to constantly find yourself living up to such sky-high expectations. Thirty years after the release of the 1995 classic, however, Fincher is all too happy to revisit his morality play centered on the seven deadly sins. At the top of the list, of course, remains the topic of what actually was inside that fateful box that Morgan Freeman opened in that dry and 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 that reaction out of both Brad Pit and Freeman during filming. Asked if the rumors of a prosthetic head had any truth to them, he answered:

"No, it's entirely ridiculous. I think we had a seven- or eight-pound shot bag. We had done the research to figure out, if Gwyneth Paltrow's body mass index was X, what portion of that would be attributable to her head? And so we had an idea of what that would weigh, and I think there was a weight in it.

And we did put a wig in there, so that when Morgan rips the box open if there were some of this tape that was used to seal the box — I think it was a shot bag and a wig, and I think the wig had a little bit of blood in it, so some of the hair would stick together. 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 movie magic. Based on the end result, we'd say he made the right choice. Be sure to check out your local listings to catch the IMAX re-release of "Se7en" this weekend in a theater near you.