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R.I.P.D.

2013 film directed by Robert Schwentke

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 21, 2026
Entity authorityQ3012553
Source-derived summary

R.I.P.D. (marketed as R.I.P.D.: Rest in Peace Department) is a 2013 American supernatural action comedy film starring Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds. The film was directed by Robert Schwentke from a screenplay by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, based on the 1999 comic book R.I.P.D. by Peter M. Lenkov and Lucas Marangon. The film also stars Kevin Bacon, Mary-Louise Parker, Stéphanie Szostak, and Marisa Miller. The story follows a murdered detective who is recruited to work for the eponymous afterlife agency—whose duty is to capture souls that evade judgement—where he is partnered with an Old West lawman and discovers a mysterious conspiracy.

The film was originally set to be released on June 28, 2013 in the United States by Universal Pictures, but was pushed back to July 19, 2013. The film underperformed at the box office, grossing $78.3 million on a $130‒154 million budget, and received generally negative reviews from critics. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray on October 29, 2013. A direct-to-video prequel, R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned, was released on November 15, 2022.

Plot

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.

Editorial summary

“R.I.P.D.” enters the record as 2013 film directed by Robert Schwentke. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what film, directed and Robert can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA useful identification and reception guide that helps separate the work itself from editions, performances, ownership and later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2013, 1999, 2022—that can be checked directly. The authority record carries competing date values—2013-01-01, 2013-08-29, 2013-07-18—which should remain separate until their references and qualifiers are resolved. Its strongest next move is a source search built around film, directed and Robert.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“R.I.P.D.” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, film, directed and Robert provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3012553. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2013, 1999 and 2022.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “R.I.P.D.”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow R.I.P.D. primary sources, R.I.P.D. archive and film research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “R.I.P.D.”?
  2. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from R.I.P.D.” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.