Ryan Reynolds has just missed out on taking a class with the best….er, McG.

Close shave, man.

The “X-Men Origins : Wolverine” star, soon to be seen as the emerald-tighted “Green Lantern” in Martin Campbell’s (now there’s a filmmaker!) film of the same name, looks set to star in “R.I.P.D”, a fun-sounding monster-mashing actioner that the guy who ruined “Terminator Salvation” was circling. Thankfully, McG had to pull out to shoot the action/comedy/romance/whaddafuckisit “This Mean’s War”, starring Reese Witherspoon. Now, though it has a Ryan, it hasn’t a director.

The L.A Times reports :

At one point little more than a week ago, it actually looked like McG could make “R.I.P.D.” as his next movie. He liked the property, and he, producers, the studio and Reynolds were all simpatico.

But then the rain turned to a deluge. After weeks of uncertainty, Fox decided to make “This Mean War.” McG, who has long made “War” a priority, couldn’t put it aside for “R.I.P.D.,” so he went immediately to begin prepping the Sam Worthington-Reese Witherspoon romantic comedy.

That puts Universal and producer Neal Moritz back to the director drawing board (there had been talk of Rawson Marshall Thurber early on, but he’s is out of the picture, as is the initial director, David Dobkin, who at most will produce). The studio could still wait until McG frees up and shoot the movie sometime next summer. But we hear it’s eager to get moving and could well begin the hunt for a new director now, with the idea of shooting in the winter.

Then again, there’s really no need to rush it. From what we hear there may not be a shooting script, and Reynolds’ schedule is an issue too. (With “Green Lantern” about to wrap, he looks to shoot buddy comedy “The Change-Up” and Robert Rodriguez’s “Deadpool” — that one is looking very likely — over the coming months, and also has to go out to promote “Lantern” in the spring.) So he probably will have a quick slot at the beginning of 2011, and then not be free until late spring or summer.