Lethal Weapon 5: Mel Gibson says the script is finished

Mel Gibson says the Lethal Weapon 5 script is done. More than that, he’s calling it “the best in the whole series,” which is a bold claim after years of on-and-off updates for a franchise that’s been sitting idle for over 20 years.

The catch is that it still depends on Warner Bros. Gibson has said he wants to direct Lethal Weapon 5 while stepping back into Martin Riggs, and Danny Glover is still expected to return as Roger Murtaugh. The script, by Mel Gibson, Richard Wenk, and Jez Butterworth, is being framed as both a legacy sequel and the final chapter, built around Richard Donner’s original plan before he died in 2021. The usual Lethal Weapon humor is still part of it, but this time there’s supposed to be more emotional weight, along with tougher social and political material.

That leaves Warner Bros. as the main obstacle. The studio’s post-Discovery merger shake-ups have kept Lethal Weapon 5 from getting a greenlight or even a production start date, so even with the creative side moving, the movie is still stuck in limbo.

If you’ve been hoping for a real send-off, this is one to keep an eye on, especially since Gibson says he wants to do right by Donner’s vision with a more personal story, one that deals with the characters’ age, their shared history, and what the series leaves behind.

You can’t watch Lethal Weapon 5 anywhere yet because Warner Bros. still hasn’t locked in production plans or a release date.