Seven was budgeted at $30–$31million but Fincher persuaded studio executives to provide further funding to achieve his vision for the film, eventually pushing it $3million over budget, to $33–$34million, making it New Line Cinema's most expensive film at that point. A studio employee said executives "would go into these meetings with [Fincher], saying, 'Absolutely not, not a penny more'... but he was so relentless and persuasive that they'd come out all ga-ga-eyed, and give him more money." About $15million of the budget was spent on below-the-line costs.
