Sequels, remakes, reboots, prequels. All part of Hollywood’s rich tapestry, and even more so essential thanks to the golden age of streaming. R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned is the latest sequel to shoot itself straight to Netflix with its first trailer arriving.
The sequel to 2012’s Ryan Reynolds-led bomb R.I.P.D. is nearly upon us, with none of the original cast returning as the Dark Horse Comic attempts to salvage itself as a “free” movie on Netflix. Instead of Reynolds, Jeffrey Donovan stars as our point of view into the Rest In Peace Department, with him shot back into the American frontier to hunt demons.
The brief trailer promises some anarchic demon fun. Still, it is very clearly trying to disassociate itself nearly entirely from the Reynolds original, which considering its box office bomb status, is completely understandable. The film centers on a portal to Hell opening up in what looks to be the Mojave desert, with several spooky-doos emerging from a crack in the dirt.
The sequel looks about as good as Seth McFarlane’s A Million Ways To Die in the West, so Reynolds clearly won’t be missing out on any major successes with this.
R.I.P.D. 2 is part of a deal between Universal and Netflix which will see it remain on the streaming service for three years, similarly to Rob Zombie’s The Munsters. With no box office to worry about, it looks like a bit of a win for Netflix, especially as the holiday season nears.
R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned has been earmarked for a Nov. 15 release date, with it going directly to DVD and Blu-Ray alongside Netflix.