Lethal Weapon is one of the most iconic action film series of all time, but there hasn’t been a new installment in the franchise since Lethal Weapon 4 way back in 1998. That may be about to change, however, as a new report claims that Lethal Weapon 5 is in the works with Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, and even director Richard Donner all set to return.
The news comes from producer Dan Lin. Lin, who has produced blockbuster films for Warner Bros. such as It, The Lego Movie, and Godzilla: King of the Monsters, told The Hollywood Reporter in a recent roundtable that he was working on a fifth Lethal Weapon movie for the studio, and he made it sound like the film is almost a done deal. “We’re trying to make the last Lethal Weapon movie,” Lin said. “And [Richard] Donner’s coming back. The original cast is coming back. And it’s just amazing. The story itself is very personal to him. Mel [Gibson] and Danny [Glover] are ready to go, so it’s about the script.”
Now, as exciting as this news is, we can’t help but be a little skeptical. For one, the idea of Donner directing the film seems just a bit far-fetched to us. He hasn’t been in the director’s chair since 2006’s 16 Blocks, and he will turn 90 in April. Personally, we can’t think of too many nonagenarians who have been tasked with helming a big-budget studio film such as this, but maybe Donner will prove us wrong. The director did claim in 2018 that he was ready to make the fifth film, which he called Lethal Finale, but suggested that Warner Bros. wasn’t on board.
Gibson and Glover aren’t exactly spring chickens either at 64 and 73, respectively, so another buddy cop starring the pair also seems like a hard sell. Remember, Glover’s character Murtaugh was contemplating retirement and saying he was too old in the original film back in 1987, so are we really supposed to buy that he’s still on the beat over three decades later? Of course, we could be looking at a Force Awakens/Ghostbusters: Afterlife situation where Riggs and Murtaugh are only around to pass the baton to the next generation. But if the movie has “finale” in the title, that seems unlikely.
However unlikely we may think it is, the news of a possible fifth Lethal Weapon movie is certainly intriguing. And if a third Bad Boys movie could happen, then we guess anything’s possible.
