David Fincher blames the rain in Seven on El Niño

Apologies to all the dorks out there with their YouTube channels, but the rain in Seven isn’t the mood-setter you think it is. In an interview with The Los Angeles Times celebrating the [ahem] 8K IMAX re-release of Seven (we’re really looking forward to seeing “Sloth” in glorious 8K), director David Fincher dispelled some lingering rumors regarding the film. In particular, why the rainfall is as ubiquitous as the misery throughout the unnamed city where Seven, unfortunately, takes place. In the end, it was a clever production technique more than artistic intent.

“It was El Niño, and there was an awful lot of rain. So we ended up having to make an executive decision,” Fincher explained. “And I know that there are dorks out there with their YouTube channels going: Why does it have to rain? It’s because we had to put together five days of continuity shooting during El Niño.”

As the interviewer and L.A. Times film editor Joshua Rothkopf clarified, this wasn’t just a Blade Runner homage; rather, it was a way to get the footage to match. However, those five days of continuity shooting would require more money for a film that features at least one knife-based sex suit.

He continues:

It’s expensive to have giant tankers filled with water. It’s hundreds of thousands of dollars a week. There was a lot of resistance. I was like, “This is New Line, isn’t it?” But people got with the program. I remember [New Line executive] Lynn Harris, who I adore, had the unenviable position of coming down on the day when we were shooting the gluttony murder. And we had 30-gallon trash bags filled with cockroaches that had to be spilled onto the floor and then we would see them scatter. And she was there for about three hours and then decided: Somebody’s getting fired over this, and it’s not going to be me. [Laughs.] This is a joke. This is the kind of stuff that David normally says with a smile on his face to be funny. I have to say that.

We’re going to assume he’s kidding about Harris’ response to the roaches because this isn’t the first time he’s talked about the rain. Production only had Brad Pitt for 55 days before the actor had to appear on set for 12 Monkeys. So, the rain became a “pragmatic decision.”

“That was really a completely pragmatic decision based on that fact that we had 55 days with Brad Pitt, and then he was going on to Terry Gillian’s movie—there were no ifs, ands, or buts about it,” Fincher told Cinephilia & Beyond in 2017. “So, it was raining in L.A. at the time, and we knew we would have to match in the exteriors stuff that was being shot interiors. Also, it was a way to make it kind of not look like Los Angeles, ’cause Los Angeles is always seen in the sun.”

So, all those YouTube dorks can stop asking about the rain—but also, what is there to complain about? The oppressive rain is one of the things that makes Seven Seven, adding to what can be described as the worst first week of a job in Detective Mills’ career. Had he spent all week catching rays, he wouldn’t have been so curious about what was in the box. Probably.