Mel Gibson says Lethal Weapon 5 may start shooting next year

Mel Gibson says Lethal Weapon 5 is “coming along great”, with the sequel set to start shooting next year if everything goes to plan.

The Lethal Weapon franchise began in 1987, with Gibson and Danny Glover’s Riggs and Murtaugh teaming up to solve the alleged suicide of a young woman involved in a drug-smuggling scheme.

It was a massive success, leading to an even better sequel with Lethal Weapon 2 – diplomatic immunity! – and two further movies, as well as a TV show that went on for three seasons.

Several things have encumbered development on Lethal Weapon 5, from Gibson’s publicity struggles to the death of Richard Donner – but work on the sequel is ongoing, and it may start shooting next year.

Mel Gibson gives Lethal Weapon 5 update

In a new interview with Screen Rant, Gibson spoke about Lethal Weapon 5 and what fans can expect. For those who don’t know, Gibson will direct the sequel.

“It’s [coming along] great, we’ve got a really good screenplay that I developed,” he said.

“Well, Donner developed it, Richard Donner, of course, developed it with Richard Wenk, and they had a really good template. I had the honor of sitting down, after Richard passed away, with the writer and doing a couple more drafts and trying to do it in the spirit of what we thought Donner might [want], because I knew the guy so well.

“We tried to get that flavor, and we were pretty happy with what we came up with.”

Mel Gibson and Danny Glover starred together in the franchise.

While Gibson is hopeful fans will see the film, he admitted there may be some difficulty as a result of the Warner Bros. Discovery merger, which has already had a few casualties – most notably, Batgirl.

“The only delay is now with all the shake-up at Warners, with Discovery coming in and the new boss, and they chop everyone else up and throw them away and get new people,” he continued.

“It always takes time for these companies to regroup, so that’s been a delay, but I’m pretty confident we’ll get this one up on its feet, probably shoot it in the first quarter of the New Year.”

Lethal Weapon 5 currently doesn’t have an official release date.