After years of rumours and speculation, it’s been confirmed that Lethal Weapon 5 is happening – and this time, Mel Gibson will be calling the shots.



A fifth instalment in the beloved action series has been on the cards for some time, but its future was in doubt following the death of director Richard Donner earlier this year.

However, it has now been confirmed that Gibson – himself an Oscar-winning director for Braveheart – will now take the director’s chair on the belated sequel, as well as reprise the role of unhinged LAPD cop Martin Riggs alongside Danny Glover as Roger Murtaugh.

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Gibson himself revealed the news at a personal appearance in London on Sunday, and states that Richard Donner (who had directed all the previous Lethal Weapon films) asked him to take over before he died.

Credit: Getty / Joshua Blanchard

As reported by The Sun, Gibson told the audience that Donner “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.”

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Gibson and Glover first teamed up as mismatched partners Riggs and Murtaugh in the original Lethal Weapon back in 1987, and the film proved a hugely influential hit.

As well as spawning three sequels and a recent TV spin-off, Lethal Weapon also popularised the ‘buddy cop’ format which was commonplace in action movies in the late 80s and 90s.

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As Gibson is 65 and Glover is 75, this obviously leaves us wondering whether, in the immortal words of Murtaugh, they’re too old for this… stuff. But even so, we’re excited to see how things progress with Lethal Weapon 5.

Credit: Joshua Blanchard/Getty Images

Gibson will be directing from a screenplay by Richard Wenk (The Equalizer, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back). It’s not yet confirmed whether Gibson and Glover’s old co-stars Joe Pesci and Rene Russo will also be back.

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