I guess they’re not “too old for this shit”, yet.
During a producers roundtable hosted by TheHollywoodReporter, producer Dan Lin revealed that Warner Bros. is still working on making Lethal Weapon 5 with director Richard Donner and the original cast of Danny Glover and Mel Gibson coming back.
LIN: “We’re trying to make the last Lethal Weapon movie and Dick Donner’s coming back. The original cast is coming back and it’s just amazing. The story itself is very personal to him. Mel and Danny are ready to go, so it’s about the script.”
The roundtable was posted on THR’s YouTube channel on Monday and Lin’s comments hit around the 44-minute mark.
There had been rumblings of a fifth movie being various stages of development for ages.
However, there is zero mention of Rene Russo (Thor, Nightcrawler) and Chris Rock (Fargo) reprising their roles, who joined the franchise in subsequent sequels.
It’ll be interesting how big the role Mel Gibson would be given his domestic abuse allegations along with him uttering black and Jewish slurs, some recorded and made public. In the current climate, it might be a headache the studio might want to avoid entirely.
Lethal Weapon was originally written by Shane Black and directed by Richard Donner (Superman, Goonies). Black wrote on the first two films with Donner directing all four films.
It also had a television adaptation on Fox Television that was recently cancelled.
I don’t think it hurts that R-rated action projects are making a big comeback with the John Wick films and Bad Boys For Life making decent coin at the box office.
Following the death of his wife, Los Angeles police detective Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) becomes reckless and suicidal. When he is reassigned and partnered with Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover), Riggs immediately clashes with the older officer. Together they uncover a massive drug-trafficking ring. As they encounter increasingly dangerous situations, Riggs and Murtaugh begin to form a bond. Riggs’ volatile behavior might just help them apprehend the criminals — if it doesn’t kill them both first.
SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
