Rian Johnson’s pitch reel for Looper presents a much different and darker movie

Director Rian Johnson is not content for his movies to be the final result we see on the big screen. In fact, he is the polar opposite of Christopher Nolan. Johnson has already released a commentary track to be listened to while LOOPER is watched theatrically and has now revealed his pitch reel for the movie.

Created with the assistance of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, this early trailer presents the backbone for what the final version of LOOPER would be, albeit with a different tone. Johnson even went so far as to explain this video for us.

Per Johnson: “This is a strange curiosity I thought might be interesting – just after I finished the script for Looper but before we began preproduction I asked Joe to record some voice-over, and with help from my friend Ronen Verbit constructed this ‘fake trailer’ using clips from other movies. This is a fairly common thing to do when you’re trying to get a movie off the ground, but it was the first time I tried it. It was meant to show more some of the film’s tone, and to show how the odd concept could be presented in a clear and compelling way in the marketing. Zach Johnson did the sketches. Note that we hadn’t begun the casting process yet, and the clips were chosen just based on their visuals and not by who is in them.”

LOOPER is fantastic and alongside BRICK presents a glowing opening filmography for a director I am sure we will all continue to hear about for years to come. I love seeing these test/sizzle/pitch videos from various filmmakers. It gives us an alternate glimpse into what may have been. Sometimes the end result is better and sometimes what the original vision could have been so much better. In the case of LOOPER, I almost wish we had gotten both versions.

LOOPER is now playing in theaters.