1. In Time
I will keep this fairly brief because it is the film on this list which inspires Looper the least, but regardless I still felt the two films had the same sort of energy and feel to them. Both films are set in futures which look fairly similar. It is my opinion that the urban streets in the film In Time look very much like the urban run down streets we also see in Looper. Both films also follow two male leads who spend the entire film on the run from government officials/ hired muscle who attempt to stop someone who is breaking the laws of their current universe. The laws in the two films are very different however- Justin Timberlakes character in In Time is trying to steal time in order to survive (when your time which is essentially money in this film runs out, you die) and in order to change the corrupt and unfair system in place in the world; whereas Levitt "let" his future self live and because of this, he has to be killed in accordance to this worlds plan. This is where the similarities run out though. I will say though that if you haven't seen In Time, it is a much better film than it gets credit for being and I would argue has the better overall science fiction concept than Looper- although I would say Looper is the far superior film despite it's more traditional, Terminator inspired concept. I am sure there are many more films or comic books which inspired Looper, or which were perhaps unintentionally very similar. Please, if you can think of one I'd love to hear it. Or even if you think my suggestions are stupid, I'd "love" to hear why also in the comments section below...