'Looper' Screenplay Available For Your Consideration

In the midst of the flurry of screenplays popping up on studio awards websites for your consideration over the past few days, astute NFS reader deanareeno tipped us off to the official Looper tumblr page posting the screenplay for Looper on Saturday. Rian Johnson includes a short intro in the PDF of the screenplay to point out that this particular draft was the final draft before production, so for fans of the film, you'll be able to find several points of departure from this script and the final film.

Here's a trailer for Looper to refresh your memory:

Looper has certainly been a hot topic of conversation here at NFS, whether it's writer/director Rian Johnson discussing how budget doesn't affect the fundamentals of making movies to an in-theater commentary track from Johnson to the sizzle reel for Looper to using Looper as a case study for the MacGuffin. I think publishing the final draft of the screenplay instead of the conformed production draft provides yet one more unique perspective for NFS readers to learn about this story as conceived in the mind of the writer Rian Johnson before the director Rian Johnson had to make the film.

Here's a link to the screenplay:

What I find remarkable about the posting of this screenplay is Rian Johnson is putting it out there himself (just like Ava DuVernay and her screenplay Middle of Nowhere). This is particularly remarkable because Looper has already picked up the award for Best Original Screenplay from the National Board of Review and will likely receive other nominations this awards season. But we don't see an official awards campaign online for the film (however, it's quite possible that guild members have been approached directly with screenplays as well as screeners). Hopefully, the studio is stumping on Johnson's behalf behind the scenes, but I get the feeling Johnson is used to promoting his own work at this point in his career.

Regardless of who is pushing for the awards attention, we'd like to thank Rian Johnson and his Looper team for posting this version of the screenplay (and for NFS deanareeno for the heads-up). Again, as always, please use this screenplay for your educational purposes only and don't wait to download it as we never know when it may go offline.

Does this draft of Looper give you a deeper understanding of the story or a better understanding of the directorial choices Johnson decided to make? Let us know in the Comments.

Link: Looper Movie tumblr page

Your Comment

11 Comments

Great .. now i can read it as a story before bedtime :))

December 11, 2012 at 6:36AM, Edited September 4, 7:54AM

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zohair

I'm starting to build up quite the collection of unread screenplays. I better start before I fall too far behind...

December 11, 2012 at 6:55AM, Edited September 4, 7:54AM

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Think of it as a library you can access any time you need to reference a particular screenplay. No need to rush through them.

December 11, 2012 at 8:56AM, Edited September 4, 7:54AM

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Christopher Boone
Writer
Writer/Director
1269

I've been holding off on the Magic Bullet Suite for awhile, but this price break made me finally pull the trigger. Thanks for the heads up.

December 11, 2012 at 12:27PM, Edited September 4, 7:54AM

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Marc B

I was blown away by this movie. I think you should definitely see it before reading the script as a large chunk of what makes it such a great story is all but omitted from the trailers. Its so much more than just an action packed blockbuster.

December 11, 2012 at 5:39PM, Edited September 4, 7:54AM

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Paul

(I really didn't like Looper)

SPOILERS !!!!

DON'T READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILM !!!

Can someone explain why they have to send people back in time to kill then ? Seems like they killed Bruce's wife without any problem. So what's that weak-ass thing about having to send people back to get killed and dispose of their body ?

That bugged me to the point of no return: bad, bad, bad writing. When your movie's plot device gets destroyed like that, what you're left with is a mess. A huge mess.

I really don't get what all the hype was all about. Yeah: I hated Looper. Pretty weak as far as time travel flick go.

Primer still rules !

December 11, 2012 at 6:17PM, Edited September 4, 7:54AM

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FabDex

SPOILERS FOLLOW!!!

If you didn't like it thats fine, but to call it out on incorrect flaws and accuse Rian Johnson of bad writing simply makes you look like a dumb douche!

Its stated very early on that its not the killing, rather the disposing of the body that's 'almost' impossible. Thus the simplest thing to do is zap back the live target and have them killed and disposed in the past.

In any case that was the 'old way' and again if you bothered to pay attention you would have figured out that the Rain Maker was going around doing whatever he wanted as no one could stop him. Thats why all the loops were getting closed and the program was being shut down. For obvious reasons he didn't need it anymore with his untouchable power!

December 11, 2012 at 7:03PM, Edited September 4, 7:54AM

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Paul

I was just about to write that... that really doesnt make any sense at all, horrible horrible flaw, but i actually enjoyed the film a lot and i like the fact that it even makes fun of itself to some degree (in the diner conversation where the old joe tells the young joe not to start asking questions about time traveling as they would spent the whole day trying to answer them)

December 11, 2012 at 7:11PM, Edited September 4, 7:54AM

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Galo

Well , here's what I thought of Looper (and there is a spoiler section in the linked post, which I label, consider yourself forewarned):

http://deanareeno.blogspot.com/2012/09/movies-looper.html

@FabDex - The death of Joe's wife in 2077 China is clearly shown as accidental, as a nervous young criminal mistakenly shoots her. That's why they burn down the house to try and cover up the circumstances of her death. It *will* be a problem for them, but the film is about Joe's story, not "let's follow the subsequent investigation and arrest of these criminals-slash-secondary-characters in 2077".

It's all covered in the film; that you apparently missed it is no fault of the filmmakers.

Primer is admirable in a film-as-puzzle approach, but emotionally I find it fairly empty. You know Carruth was a consultant on Looper, right?

December 12, 2012 at 7:33AM, Edited September 4, 7:54AM

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deanareeno

That should be 2074 not 2077...

December 12, 2012 at 7:38AM, Edited September 4, 7:54AM

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deanareeno

chloe クロエ

August 19, 2013 at 2:18AM, Edited September 4, 8:21AM

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