Looks like Riggs and Murtaugh are still old enough for this shit after all.
According to producer Dan Lin, who produced the Lethal Weapon TV series (along with the films The Two Popes and The Lego Movie), the Lethal Weapon film series is due for another appearance. And not in the form of a reboot, either—Lin is talking about the long-rumored Lethal Weapon 5, with a returning Mel Gibson and Danny Glover as stars.
Does that sound ridiculous for multiple reasons? Sure. One would think that the plot of this Lethal Weapon would have to involve Riggs and Murtaugh being dragged out of retirement or something, given that by the time of Lethal Weapon 4 in 1998 they were already at the ends of their careers. And in case math isn’t your strong suit, that was 22 years ago.
Lin let the information slip during a roundtable discussion with The Hollywood Reporter, saying the following: “We’re trying to make the last Lethal Weapon movie. And (director Richard) Donner’s coming back. The original cast is coming back. And it’s just amazing. The story itself is very personal to him and to the cast, and so I really want to make that one.”
Let’s unpack the most ridiculous part of that statement: Lin is saying this film is going to be directed by the one and only Richard Donner, the Hollywood legend who helmed The Omen, Superman and The Goonies in addition to directing all the previous Lethal Weapon installments. That might sound great, right up until you learn that Donner turns 90 years old in April, and hasn’t directed a film since 2006’s 16 Blocks. You’re telling me that after 14 years, he’s just going to show up and direct a 73-year-old Danny Glover in a bone-snapping action film?
Regardless, Lin says that this is a project he’s been trying to make happen for years, with writer Jez Butterworth currently touching up the script. As he put it: “Mel (Gibson) and Danny (Glover) are ready to go, so it’s about the script. I wasn’t part of the other four. … As a fan, I want to help to make it happen.”
CNN apparently confirmed with Gibson’s rep that he’s serious about appearing in another Lethal Weapon, meaning that at least some of this is true. It would be another major step in the 64-year-old actor’s Hollywood comeback, audiences apparently having decided that they didn’t really care that much about DUIs and anti-Semitic remarks when there are solid genre films like Dragged Across Concrete to be made.
Perhaps Gibson and Glover can simply be digitally de-aged to be only slightly older than their Lethal Weapon 4 selves? Or constructed entirely from CGI? We’re entering a brave new world for action cinema in the wake of Gemini Man’s de-aging shenanigans, so why not.
We’ll bring you more information on the apparent Lethal Weapon revival as it breaks.