Lethal Weapon 5: Mel Gibson still believes in it, despite the chaos behind the scenes

Lethal Weapon 5 : Mel Gibson blames the Warner/Discovery merger for the delay of the project, whose future seems more uncertain than ever, a few months after the death of director Richard Donner.

Ah, the 1980s, a time that could seem so distant, were it not for the abundance of nostalgic productions referring to it. The theatrical triumph of Top Gun 2 and that of season 4 of Stranger Things on Netflix confirm this trend more than ever. Another franchise from this period about to be reborn, The lethal Weaponcreated by Richard Donner (to whom we also owe Superman and The curse) in 1987.

However, if the filmmaker died after announcing his investment in the project, the star of the tetralogy, Mel Gibson intends to revive the saga that made him the superstar he remains today. Because he’s not too old for this bullshit, Martin Riggs wants to return to service, probably alongside his legendary teammate, Roger Murtaugh, played by Danny Glover.

Mel Gibson will he fire red balls at Warner?

However, nothing is easy in this case. The death of Richard Donner last year delayed the start of the project for the first time. Now, Mel Gibson explains that following the reversal of strategy operated by David Zaslav, CEO of Warner/Discovery, the film finds itself in limbo.

In fact, originally Lethal Weapon 5 was to be an HBO Max program. But certain events disrupted its developmentas Mel Gibson explains:

“The current delay is due to the tribulations experienced by Warner and the arrival of Discovery and the new management… They have fired a lot of their collaborators to replace them with new people. It’s always difficult for several companies to regroup, which leads to delays, but I’m confident we’ll get back on our feet and we should start filming during the first quarter of next year. »

Soon the return of the explosive duo?

With a view to filming starting next year, Mel Gibson has great hopes for this sequel, citing the remarkable work of Richard Wenk (screenwriter on Equalizer 2 and The Magnificent Seven by Antoine Fuqua) to the writing:

“They have a really good base… After Richard passed away, I had a chance to sit down with the screenwriter, distill some ideas and try to do it in the spirit that Richard would have wanted, because that I knew him so well. We tried to find this flavor and we are happy to have succeeded. »

If the film comes to fruition, it will be released nearly thirty-five years after the original, for a last explosive trip of the shock police duo? Moreover, this umpteenth project, which smells good of those famous eighties, joins, among other things, a possible sequel to dirty dancing and Beverly Hills Cop. A nostalgia not ready to run out of steam for the moment…