Lethal Weapon 5 to start shooting in 2023

Mel Gibson has revealed that Lethal Weapon 5 will start shooting in 2023, possibly in the first quarter of the new year.

Lethal Weapon is one of the most beloved action franchises of all time and to many fans, is considered the pinnacle of the 'buddy cop' movie genre.

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Four movies have been produced so far - Lethal Weapon (1987), Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), Lethal Weapon 3 (1992) and Lethal Weapon 4 (1998).

There has long been speculation that another entry in the series might get made, but various circumstances have meant that it hasn't happened yet, whether it be the television show being produced, or indeed Gibson's controversial brushes with the law in the past.

But, it looks like things are moving ahead with Lethal Weapon 5, and Gibson will direct following the passing of Richard Donner, who helmed the previous movies.

"It's (coming along) great, we've got a really good screenplay that I developed." he told ScreenRant.

"Well, Donner developed it, Richard Donner, of course, developed it with Richard Wenk, and they had a really good template.

"I had the honour 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 flavour, and we were pretty happy with what we came up with."

Why has Lethal Weapon 5 been delayed?

Gibson went on to reveal that he had hoped for production to start earlier than 2023, but things have been delayed by the recent corporate changes at Warner Bros., the studio behind the series.

"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," the Oscar winner added.

"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."

Gibson will return as Martin Riggs in Lethal Weapon 5, while Danny Glover will also reprise his role as Roger Murtaugh.