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The current superhero landscape owes a lot to Richard Donner following his contribution to the Superhero landscape. But apart from crafting one of the most influential comic book movies in history, theSupermandirector is also responsible for crafting one of the best buddy cop movies, starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover.
Following the brilliance of Shane Black’s writing and Donner’s directing skills,Lethal Weaponbecame a big success upon its release and would witness 3 more sequels in the next 11 years. But after over 2-decades, Mel Gibson is set to take the wheels for the next entry in the franchise, honoring the lateSupermandirector’s wish.
Also read:Not Just ‘Terminator’, Mel Gibson Lost a Golden James Bond Offer Before Daniel Craig Took the $10 Billion Spy Franchise to Another Level
Richard Donner Asked Mel Gibson to DirectLethal Weapon 5
BeforeRichard Donnerpassed away at the age of 91, the director was between the development of a 5th film in the buddy-cop series, and following his demise, many fans felt the film may never come to fruition. But as the story goes, the lead star of theLethal Weaponfranchise is set to direct the 5th entry, as Donner once asked Gibson to sit in the director’s chair and leadLethal Weapon 5.
“The man who directed all the Lethal films, Richard Donner, he was a big guy. He was developing the screenplay and he got pretty far along with it… 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,”said Gibson.
With 2 Oscars under his belt for his directing skills, it’s safe to say that the future of the franchise is in the safe hands, and fans will expect Gibson to redeem the IP afterLethal Weapon 4‘s failure.
Also read:“It’s going to be really tough on this guy”: Superman Director Richard Donner Had Predicted Henry Cavill Won’t Have it Easy After Man of Steel, Later Trashed Zack Snyder for Making the Big Blue Dark and Gritty
Lethal Weapon 5Will Honor Richard Donner Said Mel Gibson
Although a release date for the upcoming film is yet to be made public,Mel Gibsonis pretty confident about the upcoming entry, stating the script Richard Donner and Richard Wenk developed is“really good”. Gibson explained he sat down with Wenk and worked on a couple of more drafts in order to develop a story that’d honor the lateSupermandirector.
“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.”Gibson said.“We tried to get that flavor, and we were pretty happy with what we came up with.”
Also read:“Why don’t I play this like a bagel?”: Marlon Brando Had a Bizarre Idea for His Superman Role That Left Director Richard Donner Puzzled
With reports claiming that this might be the final entry in the iconic franchise, Gibson would aim to bring theLethal Weaponfranchise back to its previous heights and go out with a bang.
Lethal Weaponis available to stream on Max.
Source:An Experience With Mel Gibson
Santanu Roy
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2543
Santanu Roy is a Senior Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, majorly focusing on movies, with over 2,000 articles under his belt. He has been pursuing a degree in Animation and possesses a deep love for the medium of animation. Having spent the better part of the last two years pumping out articles for FW, Santanu excels at covering movie analysis and news surrounding Pixar, DCU, DreamWorks, and Batman’s cinematic legacy.With psychological thrillers and intimate slice-of-life dramas ranking among his favorite genres, Santanu is a big admirer of Luca Guadagnino, Shane Black, Park Chan-wook, and Brad Bird.
