New Movie Releases: 'R.I.P.D.' Aims High

It’s been a bumpy summer for movie studios so far. After a start that put the season on a pace to break records for box office receipts, a series of disappointing box-office performances by big-budget releases has shown that no one can predict with any real accuracy how the summer is going to end up.

No other genre has been as unpredictable this summer as the action spectacular—“Iron Man 3” raked in big money in May, but Will Smith’s “After Earth” crashed in June, and “The Lone Ranger” bombed in early July.

For the third weekend in July, a pair of big action pics will make another attempt at becoming the summer’s next action blockbuster. “R.I.P.D.” is a sci-fi adventure about a pair of cops (Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds) whose job it is to apprehend unruly ghosts; the film is clearly trying to duplicate the success of “Men in Black” and “Ghostbusters,” but there’s also the danger, with its sci-fi Western elements, that it could turn out like Will Smith’s “Wild Wild West” instead.

Bruce Willis’ “RED 2” doesn’t seem quite so risky; the globe-trotting espionage action pic is a sequel to 2011’s modestly successful “RED,” and this one doesn’t try to break any new ground.

Ryan Reynolds has another project among the week’s new releases. “Turbo” is an animated film from Dreamworks about a snail (Reynolds) who longs to be speedy; Paul Giamatti, Maya Rudolph and Snoop Dogg lend their voices as well. “Turbo” will try to snap up the family audience that “Despicable Me 2” has lured into theaters over the past few weeks.

“The Conjuring” is a ghosthunting film without the flashy effects of “R.I.P.D.” Directed by James Wan (“Insidious”), it’s the story of ghosthunters Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga), who are called to dispel a demon from a creepy farm. With a relatively small budget and mostly positive pre-release buzz, “The Conjuring” could be one of the summer’s most positive surprises.