Mel Gibson is in Talks to Direct And Star In Lethal Weapon 5
After starring in the first four films, Lethal Weapon star Mel Gibson may be setting his sights on directing chair for the next installment in the franchise. Over the weekend during an interview in London, Gibson let it slip that he was looking at directing the film and sources close to him have now said he is in talks to direct and star, though no deal has closed. Gibson steps in for Richard Donner who passed away this past July but had been developing a possible sequel with Gibson over the years prior to his death. After his passing, Gibson saw it right to continue the development of the film as a proper tribute to his friend and the late director of the franchise.
The film would be developed for HBO Max as the service continues to build up its slate of feature films that would premiere on the streamer. Not much else is known about the film at this time.
The Lethal Weapon franchise created one of the most iconic buddy cop duos of all time. But to paraphrase his fictional partner, is he too old for this shit? Nobody actively wants to watch old men star in a shoot-em-up movie. It reminds me of that Sly vs. De Niro boxing movie 'GRUDGE MATCH'.
That said, Mel is a good director and this wouldn't be what he would have in mind. The franchise got watered down a bunch in the sequels, and I can't imagine he would want to let the franchise go out with a whimper. Especially with the most recent adaptation, the ill-fated series starring Damon Wayans and Clane Crawford, being dogshit and getting cancelled after the latter got fired for behavioral problems.
WOOF. The first order of business, I assume, would be getting Danny Glover back as well. He's 75 and can be involved with presumably close to zero of the action, but he's gotta be involved if Mel is back. After that, it will be super important to figure out how to balance this movie where they are the focus without carrying the load of the action on their backs. I don't know how they do that, but it has to be done. Don't do Indy 4.