{"id":5781,"date":"2026-08-12T14:09:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T14:09:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=5781"},"modified":"2026-08-12T14:09:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T14:09:18","slug":"mel-gibson-says-lethal-weapon-5-is-stuck-in-some-kind-of-industrial-film-hell-even-though-the-script-is-better-than-all-the-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=5781","title":{"rendered":"Mel Gibson Says \u2018Lethal Weapon 5\u2019 Is Stuck in \u2018Some Kind of Industrial Film Hell\u2019 Even Though the \u2018Script Is Better Than All the Others\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nMel Gibson gave an update on the long-gestating \u201cLethal Weapon 5\u2033 this week, saying the sequel is \u201ctied up in some kind of industrial film hell that you can\u2019t extract it from to make it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\tGibson says that he and the film\u2019s writer, Richard Wenk, finished the script following the death of \u201cLethal Weapon\u201d franchise director Richard Donner in July 2021 at the age of 91.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSo I got together with the writer, and we completed it thinking, \u2018What would Donner do?\u2019 That\u2019s what we were thinking in the room, and I think that the fifth script is better than all of the others,\u201d Gibson said in an interview with Collider during Fan Expo Boston on Sunday. \u201cBut it\u2019s tied up in some kind of industrial film hell that you can\u2019t extract it from to make it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tGibson says when the script was completed that the film was set to go into production, \u201cbut it just never got the wheels under it.\u201d\u00a0Now, \u201cLethal Weapon\u201d franchise studio Warner Bros. is one of the assets at the center of a plagued acquisition by David Ellison\u2019s Paramount Skydance.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI think Warner\u2019s got into some quicksand at that time\u2026 so it got buried somewhere, and now I think this\u00a0David Ellison\u00a0guy over at Paramount has absorbed or will absorb Warners, or it looks like he will,\u201d Gibson said. \u201cAnd maybe, maybe they\u2019ll take the chains off that one, and you might see that in another year or so.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe first \u201cLethal Weapon\u201d debuted in 1987, further launching the Hollywood careers of Gibson, writer Shane Black and the comedic, action-packed buddy cop format. Gibson co-starred as LAPD detective Martin Riggs opposite Danny Glover as Roger Murtaugh. Three more sequels followed, in addition to a prequel TV series that ran from 2016-2019 with Clayne Crawford and Damon Wayans as a young Gibson and Glover.<\/p>\n

Read more Teona Mitevska, C\u00e9lina Sciamma and More to Launch Female-Empowerment Initiative Sister Sister at Sarajevo Film Festival (EXCLUSIVE)<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tIn this fifth \u201cLethal Weapon\u201d film, Gibson says the lead characters \u201care quite different.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThey\u2019re older. One\u2019s retired. The other one\u2019s on a desk job. He\u2019s putting on too much weight, and it\u2019s low-tech,\u201d Gibson said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t get into the big explosions and all this sort of stuff. But it still has the energy and, I think, drive of a big action film.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tGibson says his intention would be to direct the film himself, which he says was the late Donner\u2019s wish: \u201cDonner, God rest his soul, he said to me in this deep voice, he said, \u2018Hey, kid, if I drop off the perch, you\u2019ll take this over, won\u2019t you?\u2019 I said, \u2018Shut up! You\u2019re not going anywhere.\u2019 And of course he did. And, you know, when he passed away, I didn\u2019t say anything. But apparently he had told other people that too, so they all came to me and said, \u2018You direct it.\u2019 I said, \u2018Yeah, okay.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRepresentatives for Warner Bros. Discovery did not immediately respond to request for comment Wednesday.<\/p>\n

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Mel Gibson gave an update on the long-gestating “Lethal Weapon 5” this week, saying the sequel is “tied up in some kind of industrial film hell.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4504,4503,4505],"class_list":["post-5781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","tag-lethal-weapon-5","tag-lethal-weapon","tag-mel-gibson"],"yoast_head":"\nMel Gibson Says \u2018Lethal Weapon 5\u2019 Is Stuck in \u2018Some Kind of Industrial Film Hell\u2019 Even Though the \u2018Script Is Better Than All the Others\u2019 - Relocation Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=5781\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mel Gibson Says \u2018Lethal Weapon 5\u2019 Is Stuck in \u2018Some Kind of Industrial Film Hell\u2019 Even Though the \u2018Script Is Better Than All the Others\u2019 - 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