Ryan Reynolds’ Comic Book Action Movie ‘R.I.P.D.’ Finds Surprise Success on Streaming

While Ryan Reynolds

may now be hitting billion-dollar box offices thanks to his role as Deadpool, this wasn’t always the case. Far from it, in fact, with the MCU star leading a comic book action movie box office bomb back in 2013. A box office bomb that is now climbing the streaming charts.

Directed by Robert Schwentke and written by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, R.I.P.D. (a.k.a. R.I.P.D.: Rest in Peace Department) is based on the 1999 comic book “R.I.P.D.” by Peter M. Lenkov. Led by Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges

, with the likes of Kevin Bacon, Mary-Louise Parker, Stéphanie Szostak, and Marisa Miller making up the supporting cast, the action-comedy crashed with both critics and audiences at the time. But, clearly, there’s some newfound love for the movie, as R.I.P.D. has now climbed to #3 on Prime Video

, trailing just behind Jason Statham’s action thriller Homefront and the mystery comedy sequel Another Simple Favor.

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R.I.P.D. was a major box office bomb upon release, garnering just $78.3 million against $150 million budget. For whatever reason, Reynolds and action fans are now flocking to see if the comic book adaptation is really as bad as all that. While you ponder whether you’re curious enough, you can check out the official synopsis below.

Veteran lawman Roy Pulsifer (Jeff Bridges) works for the R.I.P.D., a legendary police force charged with finding monstrous spirits who are disguised as ordinary people but are trying to avoid their final judgment by hiding out among the living. When Roy and his new partner, Nick Walker (Ryan Reynolds), uncover a plot that could end all life, they must discover a way to restore the cosmic balance or else watch the tunnel to the afterlife start sending angry souls back to the world of the living.

‘R.I.P.D.’ Got a Prequel Back in 2022

Universal Pictures

As well as failing at the box office, R.I.P.D. also faltered with both critics and audiences alike. The spooky action outing holds a rating of just 13% from critics from 103 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, with just 38% from audiences on the Popcornmeter. “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,” the critics’ consensus reads.

Despite all this, it may interest you to learn that a lesser-known direct-to-video prequel, R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned, was released back in 2022. Following Burn Notice and Fargo star Jeffrey Donovan

as a younger (but still dead) Roicephus “Roy” Pulsipher, the character played by Bridges in the first outing, R.I.P.D. 2 finds the Wild West having gone to Hell, literally. The world’s best hope of being saved lies in the gun-slinging hands of Sheriff Roy Pulsipher as he becomes the newest officer for the Rest In Peace Department (R.I.P.D.) enforcing the afterlife’s laws. If the Old West was wild while he was alive, wait until Roy sees how weird it gets once he dies. Sadly, the attempt at resurrecting the R.I.P.D. franchise suffered a similar fate to the first effort: dead on arrival.

R.I.P.D.

Release Date

July 19, 2013

Runtime

96 minutes

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