The original movie was supposed to kick off a new franchise but is R.I.P.D. 2 still on the cards? R.I.P.D. is based on a comic series of the same name, with the title standing for the Rest In Peace Department. The movie revolved around Ryan Reynolds' cop Nick, who is betrayed by his partner and killed. In the afterlife, he's forced to join the R.I.P.D. and work with Jeff Bridges' Roy with the two battling undead creatures and stopping an apocalyptic event.
R.I.P.D. was an attempt to create a new action-comedy series in the vein of Men In Black, in addition to providing Reynolds with a potential franchise. It was given a blockbuster budget and directed by Red's Robert Schwentke, with the Dean Parisot helmed Red 2 opening right next to it in July 2013.
R.I.P.D. suffered from mediocre reviews upon release and Reynolds has since moved on to the likes of Deadpool, but is there any hope for R.I.P.D. 2?
Reynolds Said R.I.P.D. Was Set Up For A Sequel
In a 2012 Indiewire interview, Ryan Reynolds stated R.I.P.D. was set up to become a new series. The movie ended with Nick getting his revenge on his ex-partner and say goodbye to his wife, with the movie strongly hinting he and Roy will partners for a good few years to come, laying the tracks for a potential R.I.P.D. 2.
R.I.P.D. Was A Box-Office Bomb
R.I.P.D. cost around $130 million to produce but grossed less than $80 million worldwide. Not even taking the cost of marketing and distribution into account, that's an eye-watering financial loss for the studio. While he didn't outright trash the movie, Jeff Bridges later admitted to being "underwhelmed" by R.I.P.D. and questioned some of the studio's decisions regarding the final product.
R.I.P.D. 2 Isn't Going To Happen
While it's not unheard of for a box-office disappointment to earn a sequel in the years that follow, the chances of R.I.P.D. 2 are practically zero. Even R.I.P.D.'s Blu-ray and DVD grosses did little to offset the movie's failure and combined with its weak critical reception and lack of any real reappraisal in the years since that's simply no demand of a sequel.
It might be feasible the brand itself could be rebooted for a TV show separate from the movie, but R.I.P.D. 2 is a no go. Ryan Reynolds hasn't really offered any commentary on the reception to the first movie, but given his famously unvarnished opinions on his other comic book movie dud Green Lantern, he probably doesn't look back on R.I.P.D. with much fondness either.