Production Budget: $154,000,000 Worldwide Gross: $78,324,220 Estimated Losses: $114,837,890 Hollywood has had so much success with comic book adaptations that studios and producers seem to think anything that originated in a comic can be made into a movie hit. Universal purchased the rights to the Dark Horse comic Rest In Peace Department about lawmen in the afterlife and figured it was a great idea for a buddy cop comedy starring Zach Galifianakis and Ryan Reynolds that would be a supernatural special effects-filled comedy hit like Ghostbusters and Men In Black. However, Galifianakis pulled out of the film and was replaced by Jeff Bridges, who is a great actor but certainly not the comedy name that Galifianakis is. Universal must have realised there were problems with the film and a total lack of buzz because it pushed the release date from June to July 2013 and did not screen the film for movie critics before release. Reviews were still awful, and the film quickly dropped off the box office charts. It only managed to gross $78.3 million worldwide, resulting in an estimated $114.8 million loss.
Chris McKittrick is a published author of fiction and non-fiction and has spoken about film and comic books at conferences across the United States. In addition to his work at WhatCulture!, he is a regular contributor to CreativeScreenwriting.com, MovieBuzzers.com, and DailyActor.com, a website focused on acting in all media. For more information, visit his website at http://www.chrismckit.com.
