There are plenty of terrible comic book movie adaptations out there. Count 2013’s R.I.P.D. as one of the worst. Starring Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds as agents in the Rest In Peace Department, they are essentially lawmen who fight supernatural enemies. Directed by Robert Schwentke (who would later go on to destroy the Divergent franchise and direct a bad Snake Eyes movie), the film was a massive dud for Universal, earning just $78M on a budget estimated at nearly $150M. So…why is there a sequel happening all of the sudden?
The MPA ratings board [via BloodyDisgusting] has given a PG-13 rating to R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned, a straight-to-digital sequel to the supernatural action-comedy, to be released by Universal Home Entertainment.
Do I even need to say it? No, Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges are NOT returning. Nobody from the original movie is.
The unexpected sequel has Paul Leyden behind the camera. He recently directed Malin Akerman in 2020’s boxing comedy Chick Fight. Andrew Klein (MacGyver) wrote the screenplay.
So who’s starring in this thing? Richard Fleeshman (Netflix’s The Sandman), Jake Choi (Single Parents), Kerry Knuppe (Ratched), and Stephanie Levi-John (The Spanish Princess) have taken over, but the exact nature of their roles is unclear. Are they playing versions of characters we’ve already met?
The best thing about this news? I got to go back and revisit our then-writer Roxana Hadadi’s 0-star review of R.I.P.D., and that makes me happy. You should read it, too.