A silly millimeter longer...
I believe "Looper" is a special case where the Chinese, who evidently put up some cash, wanted distribution rights and favorable footage re-inserted. This is no different than "European" versions of films with nudity that come to America and must be cut in order to achieve a favorable rating theater owners want. How many times have we seen that over the past four or five decades?
As to Tab's point about "director's cut," I would call that a state of remorse on the part of some directors who want the cut studios denied on initial release due to time constraints (they moan, loudly, when films run two hours plus). James Cameron, Ridley Scott, Brian DePalma and others to name a few have offered longer cuts with discarded footage as both advertizing gimicks to sell more DVD's and to satisfy fans who want their movies (and their "pleasure") to last longer... don't we all.
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