R.I.P.D.

Boston Police detectives Nick Walker and Bobby Hayes steal a stash of gold during a drug bust. Nick regrets the theft and tells Hayes that he will turn it in as evidence. Hayes shoots and kills Nick at the next drug bust.

After getting shot, Nick finds himself drawn into a vortex, depositing him in an office. Nick meets Mildred Proctor, who explains that he is dead and is headed to judgment. She recruits him into the R.I.P.D., whose job is to find and capture Deados - the souls of people who died but escaped judgment. Nick is partnered with Roicephus "Roy" Pulsipher, a lawman from the Old West. Roy takes Nick to watch his own funeral and Nick talks to his widowed wife, Julia, but she does not recognize him. Roy explains that the R.I.P.D. officers have their appearance changed and are blocked from revealing their true identities. While he and Nick look normal to each other and R.I.P.D., Nick appears as an elderly Asian man while Roy appears to be a beautiful blonde woman.

Roy takes Nick to question a suspected Deado named Stanley. They ask Stanley questions until he "pops" and is exposed as a Deado. Stanley tries to escape and throws up a bunch of gold he swallowed before being shot by Roy. Roy and Nick argue and Nick throws Roy in front of a bus, causing Roy to lose his favorite cowboy hat. They return to headquarters and book the gold as evidence. Nick wants to investigate the gold further and asks Roy to take him to an informant. Roy takes Nick to meet a Deado named Elliot, who claims the gold is junk. Nick leaves the gold with Elliot and watches as he gives it to Nick's old partner Hayes. Roy and Nick tail Hayes to Nick's house and watch him dig up Nick's gold before following Hayes to the airport. Hayes gives the gold to a Deado named Pulaski who gets stopped by Roy and Nick while leaving.

Pulaski refuses to talk and instead pops himself, becoming a hulking monster, which leads Nick and Roy on a public chase that ends with Nick getting the gold but the Deado escaping. Nick and Roy return to headquarters and book the gold before being taken to Eternal Affairs to be punished for the Deado escaping. They learn that gold is part of an artifact called the Staff of Jericho, which can reverse the tunnel to the afterlife. Nick and Roy are also suspended from duty pending a hearing.

Nick leaves and tries to reveal himself to Julia, but she runs away from him. Roy and Nick argue again but makeup after Nick apologizes. They decide to track down the rest of the gold despite their suspensions. They confront Hayes at home and he reveals he is a Deado. They arrest him and seize the rest of the gold; however, at headquarters, Hayes triggers a device that freezes R.I.P.D. officers while the Deados steal the gold back and escape.

The Deados block off the streets and begin assembling the Staff of Jericho on the roof of a building. Nick and Roy fight their way to the building as Hayes fatally wounds Julia to use her blood to power the Staff. The dead begin to rain down on Earth as Nick distracts Hayes and Roy destroys the Staff. The vortex closes and Nick shoots Hayes, erasing him from existence. Nearly dying, Julia sees Nick's true self. They share a passionate goodbye, and Nick tells her to move on with her life without him.

Julia wakes up in the hospital where Proctor, who appears as a doctor, checks on her. Proctor then tells Nick and Roy that Eternal Affairs had their hearings without them. Nick is given a warning while Roy has fifty-three more years added to his service, much to his outrage until Proctor returns his cowboy hat. Roy gives Nick a new identity and Nick is excited until he sees that he now appears as a Girl Scout with orthodontic headgear on.

• Ryan Reynolds as Nick Walker,[9] a Boston Police detective who is murdered by his partner and recruited into the R.I.P.D.
• Jeff Bridges as Roicephus "Roy" Pulsipher,[10] a self-described lawman in the Old West and veteran officer of the R.I.P.D. Roy prefers to work alone and often runs afoul of Proctor, his supervisor and a former lover. Roy was also killed by his partner and obsesses over how he died.
• Mary-Louise Parker as Mildred Proctor:[11] Supervisor of the R.I.P.D. At some point in the past she was in a relationship with Roy, who seems to resent her promotion to Supervisor.
• Kevin Bacon as Bobby Hayes,[12] a corrupt Boston Police detective and Nick's partner. Hayes is secretly a Deado who was killed in a drug raid but escaped judgment.
• Stéphanie Szostak as Julia Walker,[13] Nick's widow who is sacrificed by Hayes to power the Staff of Jericho.
• Marisa Miller as FBI Special Agent Opal Pavlenko, an FBI Agent and Roy's avatar.[14]
• James Hong as Grandpa Jerry Chen, a retired Boston Police Department Captain from 1995 and Nick's first avatar.[15]
• Devin Ratray as Pulaski (nicknamed by Nick: "Fat Elvis"), a Fat Businessman Deado who helps Hayes collect the gold for the Staff of Jericho. As an exposed Deado he has the ability to defy gravity, running up the side of a building and jumping sideways to break a window.
• Robert Knepper as Stanley Nawicki, the first Deado Nick encounters as Roy's partner. Stanley denies being a Deado before failing the card test and is erased after trying to escape.
• Mike O'Malley as Elliot,[15] Fenway Park's scoreboard operator and a Deado. Roy allows him to avoid judgment in exchange for his work as an informant. He is erased during the final battle after helping Hayes.
• Larry Joe Campbell as Officer Murphy
• Piper Mackenzie Harris as Girl Scout, Nick's second avatar.
• Toby Huss, Mike Judge, and Jon Olson as Various Deado Voices

Zach Galifianakis was originally cast as Roy Pulsipher, but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.[16] Jodie Foster was originally considered for the role of Proctor, but in the end, Mary-Louise Parker was cast.[17]

In April 2006, following the success of Wedding Crashers, director David Dobkin was set to helm an in-development adaptation of the comic book R.I.P.D. for Universal, with Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi hired to write the screenplay.[18]

In September 2010, Universal officially greenlit the film, with Robert Schwentke to direct with Ryan Reynolds in the lead role as David Dobkin had since dropped out.[19] The following April, Jeff Bridges entered talks to star as the co-lead in the film following Zach Galifianakis turning down the role.[20] In July of that year, Kevin Bacon was cast to play the villain,[21] with Stephanie Szostak[22] and Mary-Louise Parker rounding out the cast in August.[11]

The soundtrack to RIPD was released on July 16, 2013.

The film was originally set to be released on June 28, 2013, but was pushed back to July 19, 2013, in the United States.

In August 2022, it was announced that a prequel reboot film titled R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned had been filmed, produced by Universal Home Entertainment.[34] The film was released directly to Blu-ray and DVD on November 15, 2022, and stars Jeffrey Donovan as Roy Pulsipher, Penelope Mitchell as Jeanne, Jake Choi, Richard Brake, and Kerry Knuppe.[35] Paste gave it a negative review.[36]

On the review aggregator website, Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 20% based on 5 reviews.[37]

• R.I.P.D. at IMDb
• R.I.P.D. at Box Office Mojo
• R.I.P.D. at Rotten Tomatoes
• R.I.P.D. at Metacritic