(UTV | COLOMBO) – Mel Gibson is set to direct a fifth and likely final installment of the “Lethal Weapon” franchise at Warner Bros Pictures.
The long in development fifth film seemingly was off the cards when franchise director Richard Donner died this past July. Richard Wenk, who penned the two Dezen Washington-led “The Equalizer” films, wrote the latest draft. Donner’s wife and producing powerhouse Lauren Shuler Donner apparently helped spearhead Gibson’s taking over the director’s chair and will produce the film with him and Dan Lin.
Gibson revealed the news himself while speaking at an Experience With … event in London on Sunday with The Sun newspaper picking up the quote:
“[Richard] 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.’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.”
The first two “Lethal Weapon” movies remain iconic watermarks of the action genre, while the third and fourth didn’t drop the quality ball as much as some other franchises from the same era did. The fourth film was released back in 1998.