Mel Gibson Thinks Lethal Weapon 5 Is One Of Best In Series

In recent interviews, Mel Gibson has shared insight into the ongoing process of Lethal Weapon 5, which has finally surfaced after years of enthusiasm from the actor to extend the franchise. Lethal Weapon 4 was released in 1998, meaning these characters have been frozen in time for over a quarter of a century – Gibson is eager to share where the leading roles are after all this time off.

Lethal Weapon, released in 1987, is an action-crime thriller that blends a typical police film with a darker comedy, bringing it widespread popularity and success. Directed by Richard Donner and penned by Shane Black, Lethal Weapon had a star-studded duo – with Mel Gibson as Martin Riggs and Danny Glover as Roger Murtaugh. The original follows a mismatched young and old police pair who form a deep bond through their uncovering of a high-profile smuggling ring. The follow-ups of 2, 3 and 4 in 1989, 1992 and, as aforementioned, the final in 1998 have truly stood the test of time in relevance and securing a fan base.

Mel Gibson shared with Collider at a fan expo, “The characters are quite different. They’re older. One’s retired. The other one’s on a desk job. He’s putting on too much weight, and it’s low-tech,”.

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“It doesn’t get into the big explosions and all this sort of stuff. But it still has the energy and, I think, drive of a big action film.”

The actor shared exciting insight into the energy and style of the film, noting how the action scenes are slightly different -“It’s a foot chase, right? But it’s kind of filmed like a car chase. So it still has all the elements of what was in the other films, but not nearly so complicated. But it deals more with the people in it.”

The original director Richard Donner passed in 2021, and Gibson shared his willingness to direct the next instalment following Donner’s previous wishes. He said, “Donner, God rest his soul, he said to me in this deep voice, he said, ‘Hey kid, if I drop off the perch, you’ll take this over, won’t you?’ I said, ‘Shut up! You’re not going anywhere.’ And of course he did,” he recalled. “And, you know, when he passed away, I didn’t say anything. But apparently he had told other people that too, so they all came to me and said, ‘You direct it.’ I said, ‘Yeah, okay.’”

Gibson speaks fondly of Donner, noting his talent and dedication as he shares that the script had been in the works when he died, leaving an unfinished script to be taken into the hands of the actors and producers who would support this fifth film. Mel Gibson shared that amongst him and other writers they brough together an idea inspired by their original director that he believes outshines the previous Lethal Weapons.

“Donner, when he was 90 years old, was working on the fifth, and of course he passed away in the middle. So I got together with the writer, and we completed it thinking, ‘What would Donner do?’ That’s what we were thinking in the room, and I think that the fifth script is better than all of the others. But it’s tied up in some kind of industrial film hell that you can’t extract it from to make it.”

The script was finished by Richard Wenk and Mel Gibson, and though they planned to go into production, issues with Warner meant it was lost with other ideas. However, recent talks show promise for Lethal Weapon 5 to be coming back around in the next few years – with Paramount looking to absorb Warner Bros and therefore reignite the drive for the fifth installment.