Mel Gibson Honors Late Richard Donner With His Work On The Lethal Weapon Franchise

Mel Gibson, willingly or not, recently commented in an interview that he's looking into pushing forward a revival of the Lethal Weapon franchise.

Mel would potentially be taking over the director's chair. A spot left vacant by the late Richard Donner. Donner directed the first four installments of the franchise. He had potentially been pushing to have a 5th film made for years, since the 4th installment in the franchise was able to cash in more than double its original budget way back in 1998!

Essentially, Donner was one of the first directors to lead a successful franchise that was still putting out massive numbers into its third and fourth installments.

Rumor has it, that in fact Donner had been throwing out ideas for a potential fifth film for years. However, it hasn't been confirmed whether he had a screenplay written down by the time of his passing this July.

There has to be something there though, because it's also been confirmed that HBO Max is on board as the streaming platform for the potential fifth film in the widely successful franchise. If Mel or anyone else eventually steps into the director's chair, they'll have at least some guide to follow.

Getting some, or most of the original cast back for a potential fifth installment back for this film may prove to be a bit of a tall task. Not just necessarily because certain people may find it hard to work with Mel Gibson. Joe Pesci who played Leo Getz from the second film in the franchise onward has mentioned that he's effectively retired from acting. It took Martin Scorsese quite a bit of convincing to get him to appear in The Irishman back in 2019. There's no word as to whether Donner had convinced Pesci to come back to the franchise before his passing, or if Mel Gibson would have to convince him.

Chris Rock and Jet Li entered the franchise in 1998's Lethal Weapon 4. Rock would probably be way more expensive for the studio this time around. Jet Li on the other hand, has stayed away from Hollywood for a while. He was recently brought back into the Hollywood fold playing the emperor in Disney's Mulan live action movie. Mel Gibson though may have an easier time convincing Li to come back. Seeing as how both of them shared credits in The Expendables franchise.

The deal that would make Mel Gibson the director for the 5th installment in the Lethal Weapon franchise has yet to be finalized. That may have to deal with the fact that Mel's agenda is a bit too full at the moment. Particularly if he's planning on starring in and directing this new movie. Mel is set to star in a John Wick spinoff series titled The Continental. That project is being produced by Starz. They may have a bit of an issue with Mel wanting to work for HBO!