One thing that there's no shortage of in Hollywood these days is films based on comic books, particularly of the superhero kind. With this year's box office dominated by the likes of The Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers and The Amazing Spider-Man, and critical success for all three, it is increasingly likely that Hollywood will turn more and more to the coloured panels of comic books to find inspiration for upcoming projects. There have been a number of comic book adaptations over the years, with stellar successes like The Dark Knight balanced by less successful offerings like Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and Howard The Duck. But with millions still being made in comic book sales, and the enduring success of established properties like Batman, X-Men and Superman as well as brand new and original concepts, the well of available source material continues to grow, and provides comic book movie makers with huge possibilities for upcoming projects. Depending on who you are, you either can't get enough or feel the novelty of the genre has worn off. Either way, this article will focus on several upcoming comic book movie projects that have the potential to be really good - and maybe even great...
1. R.I.P.D
Release Date: July 19, 2013 Based on the Dark Horse comic book series created by Peter M. Lenkov, Rest In Peace Department, R.I.P.D stars Ryan Reynolds as Nick Walker, a murdered cop, who joins a group of undead police officers in order to discover who murdered him. Reynolds is no stranger to comic book movies - though unfortunately from Blade Trinity to X-Men Origins: Wolverine to last year's Green Lantern, none of them have very good reputations. Hopefully for Reynolds this one will turn out better. The premise sounds fun and intriguing. Reynolds is also joined by a good cast that includes Jeff Bridges, Kevin Bacon, and Mary-Louise Parker. Robert Schwentke, who directed Parker in Red, starring Bruce Willis, is directing and I hope Schwentke brings that same matter of fact sense of humour that made Red enjoyable.