R.I.P.D. Puts Its Director Under Arrest
R.I.P.D. continues to take shape over at Universal. With Ryan Reynolds already attached, somehow clearing time for him to star in his busy schedule, the studio has finally sealed the deal on its director of choice. Robert Schwentke, whose name has been circulated the flick based on the early buzz from his efforts on RED, has accepted the gig, according to Variety, and will get behind the camera for the comic book adaptation about dead cops who patrol the underworld.
Schwentke’s name had been swirling around WOLVERINE 2 as a possibility as well, as of late, but as David Slade and Darren Aronofsky passed him by in the consideration line, Schwentke pulled his name out of the running and elected to go with R.I.P.D. instead. There’s no timetable set for R.I.P.D. to get into production just yet, but you’d have to imagine it’d be fairly soon if Universal wants to hang onto Ryan Reynolds for the picture, as the window of opportunity to shoot anything between GREEN LANTERN movies for him isn’t that wide.
UPDATE: According to Deadline Hollywood, Reynolds will shoot THE CHANGE UP first, then SAFE HOUSE with Denzel Washington, and then R.I.P.D. But then where does that put GREEN LANTERN 2, which Warner Bros. has already greenlit? Hmmm… could Universal be looking to recast if they can’t get a solid commitment from Reynolds that he’ll be able to squeeze R.I.P.D. in? Also, is there anyone still holding out hope that DEADPOOL is still a possibility for him?
