It would appear that a R.I.P.D. sequel (titled R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned) is on the way from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment after almost a decade.
R.I.P.D. was released from Universal Pictures almost a decade ago, in 2013, and was a comic book adaptation of the 1999 comic by the same name by Peter M. Lenkov and Lucas Marangon. The film starred Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool) and Jeff Bridges (The Old Man) as the main characters, Roy Pulsipher and Nick Walker.
R.I.P.D Story
In the afterlife, Nick Walker, a detective who used to work for the Boston Police Department, is hired by a director of a group of deceased police officers to fight against the renegade ghosts, reluctantly partnering with Roy. The two headlined the supernatural action-adventure as two cops dispatched by the Rest in Peace Department (R.I.P.D.) to protect and serve the living from increasingly destructive spirits hiding among the unsuspecting living on Earth.
“When they uncover a plot that could end life as we know it, the new partners have to turn grudging respect into top-notch teamwork to restore the cosmic balance…or watch the tunnel to the afterlife begin sending angry souls the very wrong way.”
Star-Studded Cast
R.I.P.D. featured a captivating cast with faces like Jeff Bridges as Roy Pulsipher, Ryan Reynolds as Nick Walker, Mary-Louise Parker as the Proctor, Kevin Bacon as Bobby Hayes, James Hong as Grandpa Chen, Robert Knepper as Stanley Nawlicki, and Stephanie Szostak as Julia.
The story and screenplay was written by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, with David Dobkin contributing to the story. The movie was overall directed by Robert Schwentke (Snake Eyes, The Divergent Series).
While there has been nothing shared about who will be manning the project, or the cast, it is hoped that the iconic duo of Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds will be able to reprise their roles for the R.I.P.D. sequel.
R.I.P.D. Was a Box Office Failure
Despite having a star-studded cast and an awesome story adapted from the graphic novels, R.I.P.D. was a box office failure for Universal Pictures. The film brought in a worldwide box office gross of $78 million, on a $130 million budget, making it an absolute failure for the company.
Additionally, the movie has an abysmal 12% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the critics’ consensus being: “It has its moments – most of them courtesy of Jeff Bridges’ rootin’ tootin’ performance as an undead Wild West sheriff – but R.I.P.D. is ultimately too dim-witted and formulaic to satisfy.”
Despite the failure of the first movie and its sad ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, it looks like Universal is ready to learn from its past mistakes and head back into the Rest in Peace Department, almost a decade later.
While this is the first that we have heard of the project, it made its presence known under the mysterious but pretty obvious title of R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned.
Although there is no other official information regarding the project, it is an apparent sequel to the 2013 supernatural action comedy and was made known when it was listed on this week’s ratings bulletin from the MPA, having earned itself a PG-13 rating for “sequences of violence, language, disturbing images, and some crude/sexual references” and honestly it wouldn’t be a Ryan Reynolds movie it if didn’t have all of the above.
The first movie may have been a failure but it truly had ample potential. Now that Ryan Reynolds has grown so much as an actor, it would be amazing to see him reprising his role and redeeming R.I.P.D. the same way that he has with many of his other movies seeing their redemption in the sequel.