Summer Film Flop RIPD Received Millions in Mass. Tax Credits

Got $27 million in state tax credits; grossed $12.7 million opening weekend

The ghost cop movie, "RIPD," starring Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds, received nearly $27 million in state film tax credits last year on its way to becoming one of this summer's biggest flops at the box office.

The movie, filmed in Boston, Raynham, and Providence, accounted for more than 70 percent of film tax credits issued by the state last year and 17 percent of the nearly $160 million worth of transferable tax credits — which can be bought and sold — issued or awarded, according to a report released Tuesday by the state Department of Revenue.

"RIPD" tells the story of a recently killed cop who teams up with a group of undead peers working for the "Rest In Peace Department." It cost an estimated $130 million to make, but grossed just $12.7 million, or less than half the value of its tax credit, during its opening weekend in mid-July, according to industry data.