If you cast your mind back to October of last year, it was reported that director Richard Donner and stars Mel Gibson and Danny Glover were eyeing a reunion for a fifth instalment in the Lethal Weapon franchise, with Donner subsequently confirming that Lethal Weapon 5 was ready to go, and just awaiting approval from the studio.
Well, the filmmaker has now provided another update on its status during an interview with the Maltin On Movies podcast (via ScreenRant), although it doesn’t sound too promising for any fans who were excited to see Riggs and Murtaugh back on the big screen:
“I’m ready to do 5. It’s called Lethal Finale. It’s very dark. And we were all set to go and now Warner Bros. is doing their old-fashioned tricks. Not Warner Bros., there’s this guy who runs the studio who’s great but they have these people in the legal department who do the negotiating in the most counter-productive way. They should be sent to a studio and work with the producers and directors and actors, and learn what makes a film, and then negotiate. But it’s just embarrassing. I wanted to end it on an emotional note, and I don’t think it’s gonna happen.”
Donner has previously revealed that he and Channing Gibson (Lethal Weapon 4) had come up with the story for Lethal Weapon 5. Worldwide, the first four movies grossed over $950 million between them, as well as spawning a recent small screen adaptation starring Clayne Crawford and Damon Wayans in the Gibson and Glover roles as Riggs and Murtaugh.
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