There have been quite a few obstacles standing in the way of Mel Gibson’s “Lethal Weapon 5.” The passing of director Richard Donner, but particularly co-star Danny Glover’s recent battle with Alzheimer’s disease — which I thought would signal the end of Gibson’s dream.
Not quite. Gibson tells Collider, over the weekend, that he still plans to make “Lethal Weapon 5,” which Donner had been developing at the time of his passing, and which Gibson took over soon after.
Mad Mel thinks that once Paramount takes over Warner Bros., the film might actually get made:
Richard Wenk and I finished the script, and we were going to go into production, but it just never got the wheels under it. I think Warner’s got into some quicksand at that time… so it got buried somewhere, and now I think this David Ellison guy over at Paramount has absorbed or will absorb Warners, or it looks like he will. And maybe, maybe they’ll take the chains off that one, and you might see that in another year or so.
While plot details for “Lethal Weapon 5” remain scant, Gibson does briefly mention what it might be about — expect less action and more character work.
It only harks back to the others in the minimal way, but it’s a story all on its own. 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. 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. Like, let’s say, for instance, “Apocalypto.” 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 about the people in it.
With all that in mind, why would Warner Bros. allow a “Lethal Weapon” sequel to get made? It doesn’t help that Gibson is now 70 and his co-star, Danny Glover, is 80, but more pertinently, Glover has Alzheimer’s — which complicates everything. Gibson remains undeterred. They do call him Mad Mel for a reason, you know.
That said, I could definitely see Ellison greenlighting this one. He loves his IP, and Gibson does frequent the same circle of people as Ellison. Makes sense.
In case you were wondering, yes, Gibson wants to direct “Lethal Weapon 5.” He’s just shot “The Resurrection of the Christ,” which is split into two parts, with releases planned for 2027 and 2028. He’s directed six films released so far, including “Braveheart,” “Apocalypto,” “The Passion of the Christ,” and “Hacksaw Ridge.”
