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Tuesday
10Mar2009

'Lethal Weapon 5' Looks More and More Unlikely

DateTuesday, March 10, 2009 at 1:43PM
So Lethal Weapon is not lethal anymore. Screenwriter Shane Black told Moviehole the idea to get the band back together for a fifth film probably will never materialize after Mel Gibson turned down the chance to play Det. Martin Riggs again.

This project has been using more jab steps than Kobe Bryant to fake us out for the past six months. There were the nebulous rumblings about a fifth movie, then Columbus Short said he'd talked to the right people about playing Danny Glover's son, who would be a much bigger character this time around.

Then Richard Donner, who directed all four movies said it wouldn't happen, then he said it might happen (or maybe it would happen and then it wouldn't), and now here's Black again disavowing the notion. Interestingly, the stuff about Columbus Short seems to mesh with Black's screenplay, in which Riggs and Murtaugh would team with Murtaugh's son on one last go-round.

Both Donner and Black had scripts, and there has been talk that Gibson would only do it if Donner directed, but Donner didn't want to use Black's screenplay. Moviehole says that Black had hoped to direct his script (he most recently directed one of the most underrated movies of the past five years, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang).

"That one is as good as dead. It won’t happen. Which is a pity,” a Warner Bros. insider told Moviehole, adding that Black's script was "fabulous. A much better send off than [Number 4]”.

Looking at all of this again, though, I can't help but think it's a few well-placed (or well-timed) phone calls away from being back on one day. If it's just a matter of Donner directing Black's script or Gibson agreeing to work with another director, I think everyone can recognize how much cash is at stake. And frankly, I'd much rather have a good fifth Lethal Weapon than to stand by the lousy fourth one.

AuthorColin Boyd | | in , , | Print ArticlePrint Article | | Comment3 Comments |

Reader Comments (3)

Either way, this series is ripe for a "re-boot".

Tuesday, March 10, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterWill

You mean Lethal Weapon 4: The Rise Of Jet Li? The only thing that truly made it lousy was the return of Pesci's character and the addition of Chris Rock's character. The back and forth banter between those two was more gratingly annoying than Jar Jar Binks ever was to Star Wars The Phantom Menace... and annoying doesn't get much higher than that. Lethal Weapon 4 could've been a better, tighter film without Pesci and Rock but the plan seems to have been more what the hell it's the last one who really cares?

A Lethal Weapon 5 at this point? Maybe, have Riggs saving the ailing Murtagh now in a senior citizens home from getting beaten up daily by teen/twenty something orderlies under the corrupt employ of the senior citizen home's administrator. An administrator who has been milking money off of those in his care with aims to grow his earnings by sealing a deal with the local hospital to ensure a constant flow of old people! Riggs of course sniffs this all out and comes to the rescue but can he save the day or will his own onset of Alzheimer's make him forget if he actually wiped before flushing the toilet that morning?

Wednesday, March 11, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterAsana

Lethal Weapon 5 - won't happen. Mel is into more substance roles and playing Riggs isn't in the cards - it worked at the time for him, but not anymore. Think about it - you're talking about one the most talented actors and directors in the world in Sequel 5? That would be like Shane Black writing a script titled "Mayberry" and asking Ron Howard to star as police chief. Get real.

Sunday, March 29, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterLola

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