As Mel Gibson’s ‘Passion of the Christ’ sequel keeps being plagued by delays, including numerous rewrites, Gibson’s next gig might be to direct and star, alongside Danny Glover, in the next ‘Lethal Weapon’ installment.
Yes, Warner Bros are indeed still planning to make another “Lethal Weapon” film. This week, Gibson was a guest on Steven Oxley’s podcast and the topic of ‘Lethal Weapon 5’ came up. The actor-director seems pretty confident that it’s happening:
I’m going to direct the fifth film in the ‘Lethal Weapon’ series. You know, Richard Donner who did the other four sadly passed away and he was a good friend. He kind of tasked me with carrying the flag home on this one so it’ll be an honor for me to do that. He had gone a fair way with the screenplay, so we’ve used what was there and we kept poking at it. I’m pretty happy with it […] it’s funny, but it’s pretty serious too. It tackles a couple of hard issues. I’m looking forward to it.
Last December, Daniel Richtman had reported that Jez Butterworth (“Ford v Ferrari”, “Edge of Tomorrow”) had written the latest draft for ‘Lethal Weapon 5’ and that the film was expected to shoot sometime in 2024. As far as I know, Gibson doesn’t have anything else planned in the fall, so maybe that’s when production could begin.
Before Butterworth came in to refine Donner’s original draft, Richard Wenk (“The Equalizer”, “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back”) had penned one of the first versions of the screenplay.
There has long been talks of a ‘Lethal Weapon 5’. Gibson confirmed in November 2021 that he was going to direct and star in the fifth film, adding that he wanted to make it happen as a way to honor the late Richard Donner, who wrote the screenplay and was originally set to direct prior to his death in July 2021.
Gibson, who has directed five films over a thirty-year timespan, including “Braveheart” and “Apocalypto,” has already shot and completed his next film, “Flight Risk,” with Mark Wahlberg, which is set for release in October.
Edward Berger seems to have settled on what comes next. His Lance Armstrong biopic, starring Austin Butler, is now holding casting calls, with production eyed for January.