After years of speculation, it seems as if Lethal Weapon 5 is finally happening, and there are already some exciting updates concerning the legacy sequel. The beloved buddy cop action franchise follows the exploits of Los Angeles detectives Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) and Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) as they take down some of the city’s biggest criminals while trying not to get on each other’s nerves. Besides the over-the-top action, the glue that held the franchise together was always the hilarious chemistry between the stars, Glover and Gibson.
The first movie was released in 1987, and three more followed at various intervals, with Lethal Weapon 4 hitting screens in 1998. While it seemed as if the classic ’80s action franchise had finally ridden off into the sunset with the dawn of the new millennium, speculation always abounded about a fifth movie. The late 2010s and early 2020s saw the rise of blockbuster legacy sequels like Top Gun: Maverick, and news began to flood in about Lethal Weapon 5. Now, the long-gestating project is seemingly taking the next steps to become a reality.
Lethal Weapon 5 Latest News
Mel Gibson Offers An Update
Months after the latest update came in June 2024, the most current news regarding Lethal Weapon 5 comes from director and star Mel Gibson. The actor who has played Riggs in all 4 Lethal Weapon films thus far has been tapped to direct the newest installment following the death of Richard Donner. Now, Gibson remains optimistic about another action comedy sequel, but has also approached the project realistically, saying “there’s various obstacles to getting any film up on its feet, and not just budgetary.” Unfortunately, Gibson had no concrete details to offer.
Gibson’s planned sequel to
The Passion of the Christ
is also stuck in development hell.
Read Gibson’s full comments here:
“I don’t know, and that’s that’s the the the funny thing. I mean, there’s various obstacles to getting any film up on its feet, and not just budgetary, but there’s like, there’s 1,000,001 reasons why something goes and why it doesn’t. So it’s really kind of a crapshoot at this point what goes first and which came first, whether it’s the chicken or the egg.”
Lethal Weapon 5 Is Confirmed
News Has Been Coming Steadily Since 2020
Like many legacy sequels, news concerning Lethal Weapon 5 has been kicked around practically since the release of the last movie, but hard details began surfacing around 2020. When the project was first revealed, original franchise director Richard Donner was attached to write and direct, with Danny Glover and Mel Gibson reprising their roles. Unfortunately, Donner passed away in 2021 and directing duties were then shifted to Gibson. A new writer was added in 2023 and the project has slowly simmered since. However, despite taking a while, the fifth movie is still happening.
Richard Donner directed all 4
Lethal Weapon
films.
Lethal Weapon 5 Cast
Glover & Gibson Are Confirmed To Return
Considering the unbelievable chemistry between the two leads in the buddy cop classic, it comes as no surprise that Lethal Weapon 5 is bringing back Mel Gibson and Danny Glover to reprise their beloved roles. Glover’s turn as the straight-laced Murtaugh was the perfect foil to Gibson’s loose-canon Riggs, and the duo elevated each other’s performance in each Lethal Weapon movie. As for the rest of the cast, nothing is known about potential returns, and without any story details, it’s impossible to know if any new characters will be introduced.
The confirmed cast of Lethal Weapon 5 includes:
|
Actor |
Lethal Weapon 5 Role |
|
|---|---|---|
|
Mel Gibson |
Martin Riggs |
 |
|
Danny Glover |
Roger Murtaugh |
 |
Lethal Weapon 5 Story Details
Nothing Is Known About The Sequel’s Story Yet
Given the two-and-a-half decade gap since that movie, it seems like a no-brainer to have
Lethal Weapon 5
usher in those now-adult offspring as the new Riggs and Murtaugh
Butterworth’s script for Lethal Weapon 5 was described by producer Dan Lin as very personal to Richard Donner and the cast. Other than that, not much is known. By the end of Lethal Weapon 4, Riggs had fathered a son, and Murtaugh became grandfather to a baby girl. Given the two-and-a-half decade gap since that movie, it seems like a no-brainer to have Lethal Weapon 5 usher in those now-adult offspring as the new Riggs and Murtaugh, because after all this time the original Murtaugh genuinely is “too old for this s***,” as he famously exclaimed in the original films.