We May See ‘R.I.P.D.’ Real Soon

By  · Published on February 16th, 2010

I got a chance to speak with Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, the screenwriters behind Clash of the Titans, a few days ago, and they gave me some happy news about a project that’s been in limbo for a bit.

The two were hired on a few years back to bust out a script for an adaptation of Peter Lenkov’s comic book “R.I.P.D.” which features two dead cops who return to earth to drag kicking and screaming people who don’t want to cross over. The humor is all there alongside the action, but for some reason, the adaptation hasn’t been pushed forward.

That might be about to change according to the screenwriters. They both have a keen understanding of the process, and realize that movement has started before to no avail, but they seem imbued with fresh confidence that it’s going to be greenlit.

I ask when we’re going to get to see it, and Hay was quick to answers:

Very, very soon…I feel like pretty soon they’re making a push on it to try to put it together. Fortunately for us, and for the project, it’s been a screenplay that people have really liked and has had a lot of interest all along. All we can do is hope that all those gears come together at some point.

He went on to describe the project as a “buddy comedy in a world of sci-fi and action.”

I’m sold.

The comic book is fun from cover to cover, and with the current environment of comic book franchises, it seems like the perfect time to bring something a little bit more innovative to the screen.

Plus, David Dobkin (the director behind Wedding Crashers) is still set to direct, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that those gears will fall into place soon, too.

What do you think?

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