Does "Lethal Weapon", the buddy movie par excellence, really get a fifth part? Here is the current state of affairs.
Already around 33 years ago, when the first part of the "Lethal Weapon" series was released in 1987, a then 41-year-old Danny Glover (74) at Mel Gibson's (64) side was resigned: "I'm too old for that shit! " On Monday (October 12th) the "two tough professionals" Roger Murtaugh (Glover) and Martin Riggs (Gibson) can be seen again on TV (8:15 pm, Kabel eins). A good reason to wonder how the action grandpa will only complain when he returns as planned in a fifth part of the series …
From rumor to script
For the first time in January 2020 the rumor went around that the mixture of action and comedy should get a new part – in the best case with the two original leading actors Glover and Gibson. They last made common cause in the fourth part of the series in 1998 and were literally beaten into retirement by martial artist Jet Li.
In July 2020 Danny Glover then commented on a potential fifth "Lethal Weapon" part and gave the fans hope. The rumor from January is actually true, the finished script also appealed to him very much, Glover told "Variety". This had mainly to do with the relevance of the alleged action.
Back to the roots?
Already the first part of "Lethal Weapon" dealt with serious topics, such as the suicidal thoughts, even the death wish of the character Martin Riggs. Even back then, the two cops weren't too careful with the law, but as the series progressed, the individual sequels got even worse. That should probably not be the case with the fifth part. Instead, according to Glover, he deals with the issue of police violence, which was so relevant before the Black Lives Matter movement, according to the script.
Unlike Glover, Mel Gibson has yet to comment on a possible comeback. His star dropped rapidly after his notable career in the 80s and 90s, after he repeatedly uttered anti-Semitic hate speech. Nevertheless, producer Dan Lin, who was responsible for the TV series of the same name in 2016, said in January 2020 according to "The Hollywood Reporter" that both stars and even the now 90-year-old director of all four parts, Richard Donner, should return. When this could be the case, however, is still in the stars – since Corona more than ever.