Bruce Willis’ $176M Hit With One Of The Best Time Travel Twists Of All Time Finds New Streaming Home
A Bruce Willis hit is back and streaming for free.
Throughout his 40-plus-year career, the Emmy and Golden Globe winner was largely known for his work in the action genre, thanks to the likes of his blockbuster Die Hard franchise, and his adaptations of RED and Sin City, among others. Willis also scored plenty of acclaim in the comedy sphere, including his award-winning turn in the private detective series Moonlighting and the Whole Nine Yards movie franchise.
In the height of his popularity, Willis did even try his hand at a handful of sci-fi outings, beginning with Terry Gilliam's highly-acclaimed reimagining of 12 Monkeys. The Golden Globe winner swiftly followed it up with Luc Besson's The Fifth Element, which remains a cult classic some 19 years after it was a financial hit, and later led everything from Michael Bay's Armageddon to the 2009 adaptation of Surrogates.
Arguably one of Willis' most successful sci-fi outings was that of Looper, which has made its way to a new streaming home. Written and directed by Rian Johnson, the 2012 film starred Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Joe, a contract killer for a Kansas City crime syndicate in the near future who is tasked with killing targets sent back in time by the organization, only to find his latest target to be his future self, played by Willis, putting him in a race against time to avoid capture and track himself.
Now, some 14 years after the film first hit theaters, Looper has found its way to a new streaming home. The sci-fi film is now available to stream on Tubi for free with ads, joining other such notable Willis favorites as the cult classic buddy action comedy The Last Boy Scout, the real-time action-thriller 16 Blocks and the ensemble heist comedy Bandits. However, as of the time of writing, Looper is only expected to stream on the platform until the end of the month.
Alongside Willis and Gordon-Levitt, marking his third collaboration with Johnson after Brick and The Brothers Bloom, Looper featured a star-studded cast that included Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, frequent Johnson vet Noah Segan, Piper Perabo, Jeff Daniels and Garret Dillahunt, among others. The sci-fi thriller garnered widespread acclaim upon its late 2012 release, securing Johnson's second-highest score on Rotten Tomatoes behind Knives Out's 97% approval rating, and Willis' second-highest behind Die Hard's 93% score.
One thing that has helped Looper stand out compared to its genre compatriots in the years since its release is its unique approach to the time travel formula, avoiding over-explaining any of the science behind its time travel. Johnson did originally collaborate with Primer's Shane Carruth for potential sequences better showcasing the movie's characters venturing through time, only for said scenes to have been determined too expensive to shoot.
Given the film remains an all-time hit with critics, and its new streaming home is a free alternative for viewers, it will be interesting to see if Looper enjoys something of a resurgence on streaming charts in the coming weeks. Should it indeed prove a hit, Tubi could also find themselves drawn to extend their deal with TriStar Pictures and Sony to keep the film in their library beyond the planned August exit.