Mel Gibson Says He Still Wants to Direct Lethal Weapon 5, Although It Sounds Like It's in Development Hell

Lethal Weapon 5 is inactive connected Mel Gibson’s radar, though it sounds mired successful improvement trouble.

Gibson, who famously played suicidal LAPD detective Martin Riggs alongside Danny Glover’s household antheral bull Roger Murtaugh successful the ‘80s enactment classic, told Collider that a screenplay from screenwriter Richard Wenk was completed pursuing the decease of Lethal Weapon franchise manager Richard Donner successful July 2021 astatine the property of 91.

As for what Lethal Weapon 5 mightiness look like, Gibson said its characters would beryllium older, arsenic you’d expect, and truthful the movie would beryllium much quality driven than erstwhile entries.

“It lone harks backmost to the others successful the minimal way, but it’s a communicative each connected its own,” Gibson said. “The characters are rather different. They’re older. One’s retired. The different one’s connected a table job. He’s putting connected excessively overmuch weight, and it’s low-tech. It doesn’t get into the large explosions and each this benignant of stuff. But it inactive has the vigor and, I think, thrust of a large enactment film. Like, let’s accidental for instance, Apocalypto. It’s a ft chase, right? But it’s benignant of filmed similar a car chase. So it inactive has each the elements of what was successful the different films, but not astir truthful complicated. But it deals much astir the radical successful it.”

Gibson confirmed that he’d similar to nonstop the movie, but it’s “tied up successful immoderate benignant of concern movie hellhole that you can’t extract it from to marque it.” He appears to beryllium pinning his hopes connected Paramount main David Ellison giving it a changeable successful the arm, assuming his bid to bargain Warner Bros. really goes through.

The archetypal Lethal Weapon, released successful 1987, helped motorboat Gibson and co-star Danny Glover to broader movie success, pursuing Gibson's starring relation successful the Mad Max franchise and Glover's occurrence successful Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple. The franchise likewise launched the vocation of Shane Black, who would spell connected to constitute Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and nonstop Iron Man 3, The Nice Guys, and The Predator.

Gibson is nary alien down the camera either, winning an Oscar for champion manager for Braveheart. He besides directed The Passion of the Christ, Apocalypto, and WWII movie Hacksaw Ridge. 2027 is acceptable to spot the merchandise of The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One, directed by Mel Gibson from a publication helium co-wrote with Randall Wallace.

Photo by Bertrand LAFORET/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images.

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].