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Lethal Weapon 5 Star Mel Gibson Set to Take Over Directing

While plans for a fifth Lethal Weapon were in limbo following the franchise director Richard Donner's passing, it looks like the torch has been officially passed courtesy of his widow Lauren Shuler Donner, who's given her blessing to star Mel Gibson, according to The Guardian undergoing final talks to helm the Warner Bros film. The two-time Oscar winner is also set to reprise his role as Martin Riggs opposite Danny Glover's Roger Murtaugh. The franchise follows a maverick cop (Gibson) paired up with a by-the-book veteran (Glover), then subsequently gets on each other's nerves uncovering massive organized crime rings revolutionizing the buddy cop film.

Lethal Weapon 5 Star Mel Gibson Set to Take Over Directing
Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon (1987). Image courtesy of Warner Bros

Gibson has continued to be active in front of the camera with films like Lionsgate's Dangerous, the indie film Last Looks for MadRiver International, and Highland's Panama set for 2021 releases. He's also filmed a ton of upcoming projects that reached post-production. The last film he directed was 2016's Hacksaw Ridge with star Andrew Garfield. He's currently attached to The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection, the sequel to his 2004 hit. Lethal Weapon 5 would be his eighth feature (and final of the franchise) he's tackling behind the camera. Richard Wenk, who wrote the Denzel Washington-starred Equalizer films, penned the latest draft.

Lethal Weapon 5 Production Details

Rideback's Dan Lin and Gibson join Shuler Donner in producing. Rideback's Jonathan Eirich and The Donners' Company's Derek Hoffman will executive produce. Gibson told the Sun that Donner "was developing the screenplay, and he got pretty far along with it. And he said to me one day, 'Listen, Kid, if I kick the bucket, you will do it.' And I said, 'Shut up.' He did indeed pass away. But he did ask me to do it and, at the time, I didn't say anything. He said it to his wife and to the studio and the producer. So, I will be directing the fifth one." Since its 1987 debut, sequels came out in 1989, 1994, and 1998 with a combined $952 million globally at the box office, not to mention a FOX TV adaptation. Ironically, one of the catchphrases in "I'm getting too old for this shit" is breathing new life again.


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Tom ChangAbout Tom Chang

I'm a follower of pop culture from gaming, comics, sci-fi, fantasy, film, and TV for over 30 years. I grew up reading magazines like Starlog, Mad, and Fangoria. As a writer for over 10 years, Star Wars was the first sci-fi franchise I fell in love with. I'm a nerd-of-all-trades.
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