Proving that there's more than just one beard in Hollywood, Deadline is reporting that Jeff Bridges has begun talks to join the cast of R.I.P.D. in a role originally said to be held by Zach Galifianakis. The shorter, younger bearded guy exited the project earlier this month due to uncertainty surrounding the start date for filming, on account of star Ryan Reynolds' attachment to an eventual Green Lantern sequel.
The film is based on the comic book of the same name, penned by writer and producer Peter Lenkov, drawn by Lucas Marangon and published by Dark Horse Comics in 2003. The story centers around a man who was murdered at the height of his life, and joins the R.I.P.D. as a way of tracking down the guy who did it. R.I.P.D., of course, stands for Rest In Peace Department, the group of dead people who track down criminals and cause no end of confusion for the fine folks at the office of the Rhode Island Public Defender.
We've always said Jeff Bridges would play a great purple demon-monster.
The film is set to be directed by Robert Schwentke, last seen helming the 2010 film Red, which managed to inject a fair bit of humor into all of the gunshots, explosions and old people being badass. That, combined with the presence of our favorite Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place castmember and the Dude himself has us feeling pretty optimistic about the undead cop flick. That, or we're just looking forward to when someone finally gets around to making a zombie fireman movie.
