It’s not like we’re short of evidence that literally every IP that’s ever been a movie or TV show is currently on the table for a reboot, prequel, spinoff, or re-imagining. But the latest case in point is particularly surprising: Universal Pictures has revived RIPD, the comic-book-turned-movie that flopped in theaters back in 2013. On Wednesday, the studio released the first trailer for a prequel movie called RIPD: Rise of the Damned, which is coming out on home video and digital release on Nov. 15. Streaming video that appears to be the first eight minutes of the movie is also online on Universal’s website.
The original RIPD movie is a modern-day supernatural action story starring Deadpool’s Ryan Reynolds as detective Nick Walker, whose corrupt partner (Kevin Bacon) murders him, inadvertently inducting him into an afterlife law-enforcement agency called the Rest In Peace Department. The RIPD fights “Deados” (pronounced “dead-ohs” as if they’re some kind of undead breakfast cereal), souls of the damned who escape the afterlife and wreak havoc on Earth. Jeff Bridges co-stars as Nick’s new partner Roy Pulsipher, a former Old West sheriff who’s been hunting Deados since he was gunned down.
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Rise of the Damned focuses in on Roy’s origin story, with the character now played by Burn Notice’s Jeffrey Donovan. When a prospector accidentally unleashes a force from the netherworld, a newly dead Roy gets involved in the fight to send it back to Hell. Here’s the full plot description from Universal:
The Wild West has gone to Hell, literally, and the world’s best hope of being saved lies in the gun-slinging hands of Sheriff Roy Pulsipher (Jeffrey Donovan) as he becomes the newest officer for the Rest In Peace Department (RIPD) 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. Roy thought joining the RIPD would give him a chance to revisit his daughter and solve the mystery of his murder. Instead, he has his holsters full with havoc and hellfire when he’s given a mission to stop a dangerous demon from opening a portal to the underworld. The fate of the living and the dead now depends on Roy and his partner Jeanne (Penelope Mitchell), a mysterious swordswoman, as cowboys clash with creatures and undead insanity unleashes apocalyptic chaos.
RIPD 2 will be available on digital release on Nov. 15. The original RIPD is a goofy action shoot-’em-up that fits into the continuum of fantasy cop movies from Barry Sonnenfeld’s Wild Wild West to Netflix’s Bright. It’s streaming on HBO Max and is available for digital rental on Amazon and other services.