R.I.P.D. Finally Gets Going

The trades officially announced that David Dobkin would be on board to direct "R.I.P.D." for Universal Pictures. Neal H. Moritz and Dark Horse's Mike Richardson would be producing. Since then we have not heard much else. Luckily Sci-Fi Wire caught up with Richardson while he was out promoting Hellboy II on Blu-Ray.

"Actually, we're quite busy right now. The most immediate is R.I.P.D. It's a lot of fun. ... It has a few of the elements of something like a Men in Black, except this one has real scares in it. It's not sort of a cartoon scares. A lot of humor, but real scary stuff going on."

R.I.P.D. is based on a comic book that was originally written by Peter M. Lenkov in 1999. The comic centers on the Rest in Peace Department (RIPD), the dedicated yet dead police officers who patrol the dead beat, made up of the deceased who refuse to go quietly. The story focuses on a cop who joins the department after being murdered and his search for the man who set him up as he does his duty fighting fiendish creatures.

The article also went on to say that they have began some work on Emily Strange and Freaks of the Heartland at Universal. Apparently there will be a official announcement in the trades sometime soon hopefully with more details on what films will be a part of the Universal and Darkhorse pact.