Producer Neal Moritz Talks R.I.P.D. Starring Ryan Reynolds And Jeff Bridges
During a sit down with the guys over at Collider, producer Neal Moritz revealed the comparisons between the film and the comic book, trying to get the tone just right, getting the greenlight for the film, and more. Don't forget to visit the R.I.P.D. hub for more news.
On the chemistry between Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges:
I think…the hardest part of the movie was, ‘What is the exact tone of this movie?’ We’ve talked a lot about movies like Lethal Weapon meets Men In Black or a little bit of Beetlejuice thrown in there, a little bit of Ghostbusters. But really the core of the movie is the relationship between Jeff and Ryan. For me, buddy cop comedies are really almost my favorite genre and this is really aimed at that. How do we make the relationship of the buddy cop movie fresh? And I think the two of those guys are terrific in it and their relationship just sparkles – by far the best part of the movie, the part that I really look forward to watching every time I watch the movie.
On getting the adaptation going and the challenges faced:
It was incredibly hard [to get a greenlight]. It was one of these movies that came together and fell apart many, many times. But I’ll never forget reading the script the first time. The first time I read the script I was like, ‘I have to make this movie.’ I just loved the relationship between those guys so much and I just loved the concept of the police for the dead…We had a number of combinations of cast that wanted to do the movie together but it just never came together right. When ultimately it started to get steam again, we got Jeff Bridges to play that role. To me, out of all the combinations that potentially almost did this movie, there could not have been a better combination than Jeff and Ryan. Jeff just embodies that character so much, it’s amazing.
On the comparisons to the original comic source:
I think there are [similar] concepts [to the comics], the characters are very similar. We used it as a jumping off point and there’s a lot that’s similar in both and there’s a lot that’s different in both. I like to think that these movies kind of stand on their own and whether you’ve read the comic book or not read the comic book, the movie is enjoyable to you either way. I think that sometimes – especially a comic that has a beloved fanbase but it’s a small fanbase – if we don’t expand it a bit, it doesn’t become a movie for everybody. When you’re making movies at such a high level budget, you really have to make movies that really are for more than just a small group of people.
On finding the right tone for the film:
The fine line of the tone of the movie. We knew going in that, that was going to be the toughest part and it is the toughest part. There was a balance of humor, comedy, action, that we really had to finely distill – every time we added a little bit more of something or had to take a little bit back. We didn’t want the movie to be broad, we wanted it to feel real but it’s got a supernatural concept, so it was just trying to mix all that and dial that together. That was, by far, the toughest part of this movie. Making the movie wasn’t tough – trying to get the movie made was extremely tough – but once the studio said, ‘Okay let’s go for it,’ making it wasn’t that hard. We had so many different choices of what the movie ultimately could be in post, and it was just dialing it together for that right combination, that right tone.