Mel Gibson’s schedule is more jam-packed right now than it’s been for a very long time, but there’s one project above all else that fans of the actor and director would love to see happen above all else, and that’s Lethal Weapon 5.
Richard Donner confirmed early last year that the script was in the process of being written, with the veteran filmmaker set to draw a line under both the buddy cop franchise and his own career in the process. Sadly, Donner passed away before he had the chance to make the fifth installment a reality, but Corey Feldman of all people revealed that Gibson was toying with the idea of helming it himself.
During a recent event in London via The Sun, Gibson addressed the status of Lethal Weapon 5, admitting that he’s likely to step behind the camera on the project after Donner urged him to get the return of Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh across the finish line in the event of his death.
“The man who directed all the Lethal films, Richard Donner, he was a big guy. He 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.’ But 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.”
Gibson hasn’t directed anything since awards season favorite Hacksaw Ridge back in 2016, and he’s never tackled a project even remotely resembling a studio-backed action movie, but he’s still the most obvious and fitting candidate to take the reins on Lethal Weapon 5.