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William Sommerset

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Added by: JohnnyChany

Read more about William Sommerset at: Wikipedia

Official Site: New Line Cinema

Seven (stylized as Se7en) is a 1995 American crime thriller film directed by David Fincher and written by Andrew Kevin Walker. It stars Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, and John C. McGinley. Set in a crime-ridden, unnamed city, Seven s plot follows disenchanted, near-retirement detective William Somerset (Freeman) and his new partner, the recently transferred David Mills (Pitt), as they attempt to stop a serial killer before he can complete a series of murders based on the seven deadly sins.

Walker, an aspiring writer, wrote Seven based on his experiences of moving from a suburban setting to New York City in the late 1980s, during a period of rising crime and drug addiction. His script was optioned by an Italian film company which underwent financial difficulties and sold the rights on to New Line Cinema. Executives were opposed to the script's bleak ending and mandated a more mainstream, upbeat outcome. Eager to prove himself after the failure of his first feature film project, Alien 3, Fincher read Walker's original script which he was sent by mistake and agreed to direct as long as the ending remained. The studio continued its efforts to change the ending, but faced opposition from Fincher and the cast. On a $33–$34 million budget, principal photography took place mainly on location in Los Angeles. Rob Bottin headed the special effects team responsible for realizing the elaborate murders, using makeup and prosthetics.

Seven received middling test audience results and was not expected to perform well due to its violent and mature content, but it went on to earn $327.3 million worldwide, becoming a surprise success and one of the highest-performing films of the year. Reviews at the time were more mixed, with critics praising Freeman's performance, but criticizing the dark cinematography, implicit and implied violence, and the bleak ending. Seven revitalized Fincher's career and helped Pitt transition from roles based on his appearance to more serious, dramatic roles.

In the years since, consensus on the movie has shifted, and Seven is now regarded as one of the best thriller, crime, and mystery films ever made. It remains influential in filmmaking, inspiring a host of imitators of its aesthetic, style, and premise of detectives chasing down serial killers with distinctive methods and motives. The film's title sequence, depicting the killer preparing for his actions later in the film, is considered an important design innovation and also influential on future credit sequences, while Seven s twist ending has been named as one of the best in cinematic history.

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