First Look At Prosthetics-Heavy Joseph Gordon-Levitt In 'Looper'

Some will say he looks beefed-up, but the fact of the matter is that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is sporting quite a bit of practical prosthetics to make him look more like Bruce Willis. Wait, what? Well, backing up a second, this is your first look at Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Rian Johnson's ("Brick," "The Brothers Bloom") much-anticipated sci-fi film, "Looper." In the high-concept picture that plays around with screwy time-travel conceits, Gordon-Levitt plays a hitman who works for the mob, who travels forward in time and recognizes one of his targets as his future self.

So yeah, Gordon-Levitt finds himself faced with the task of killing his older self (Willis). Potentially mind-boggling, but Johnson himself recently said not to be confused, as the story is just a device to tell a much broader tale. "The movie actually uses that [time-travel conceit] as a set-up," he explained. "The best parallel I can draw is to the first 'Terminator' movie where time travel is used to set up this impossible situation between these people and then that situation plays itself out."

Footage of "Looper" -- the film itself has already been screened for geek-friendly critics -- was shown this weekend to audiences at Anaheim's WonderCon. What was actually played was the trailer, which apparently reveals that time-travel was invented in the 2070s, and hitmen dispose bodies in other time periods (like the 2040s), so the police have no way of finding the bodies. "The only rule is you never let your target escape. Even if the target is you," the voice-over narration said. Evidently, this first trailer only really focuses on and shows Joseph Gordon-Levitt, but there are a few glimpses of other castmates like Emily Blunt and Jeff Daniels (the cast also includes Paul Dano, Piper Perabo and Garret Dillahunt). Due in theaters on September 28th, we're sure it's only a matter of days or weeks until this same trailer is unveiled online. As for the film itself, we're hoping we get an early peek at Cannes, and if not, it'll surely premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in early September [via io9]