‘Looper’ Director Rian Johnson on Bruce Willis, Booty Call Codes and Time Travel Logic (EXCLUSIVE VIDEO)

Posted September 27, 2012, 2:40 pm   •   by Todd Gilchrist   •   0 comments

Looking at the raw materials that Rian Johnson assembled for his new film, Looper has all of the markings of a studio-created, cover-all-of-the-bases thrill ride with star wattage to burn: time travel, dystopian futures, mob enforcers, out-of-left-field sex scenes, on-the-riser Joseph Gordon-Levitt and bona fide icon Bruce Willis.

But after the idiosyncratic one-two punch of his films Brick and The Brothers Bloom, it’s obvious that Johnson isn’t interested in kowtowing to expectations, and he turns those commercial hallmarks into something truly creative and unique. Looper is one of the year’s most original and daring films, combining all of the excitement of a conventional blockbuster with the intimacy and intelligence of the independent character studies that introduced him to audiences.

How did the young filmmaker put together this ambitious and deeply entertaining film?

Celebuzz spoke to Johnson at the Austin, TX press day for Looper, where he played the film for audiences at the iconic genre festival Fantastic Fest.

 

In addition to discussing the origins of the project, which took him some 10 years to develop, Johnson talked about staring down superstar names on the daily call sheet, and considering not just the future on film, but in film as he continues to create cinematic experiences that are as entertaining as they are imaginative.

Watch Part One of Celebuzz' exclusive video interview with Johnson above, and Part Two below.