Shane Black (Iron Man 3), who penned the first two films in the buddy cop action franchise Lethal Weapon, revealed that he wrote a treatment for a fifth film and offered up some tantalizing details as to what type of trouble Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) and Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) would’ve gotten themselve into.
Whereas other aging franchises try to set up future installments and reinvigorate the franchise by introducing a young relative — such as Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf) in 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and John “Jack” McClane, Jr. (Jai Courtney) in 2013’s A Good Day to Die Hard — as a major focal point in the story, Black wanted no part of that trend.
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“I wrote a 62-page treatment with my friend Chuck for Lethal Weapon 5 that would’ve been, I think, a very good movie,” Black divulged to The Playlist. “It was interesting. It was essentially an older Riggs and Murtagh in New York City during the worst blizzard in east coast history, fighting a team of expert Blackwater guys from Afghanistan that’s smuggling antiquities. And we had a young character that actually counter-pointed them. But I didn’t wanna do what people do when they’re trying to transition which is, they sorta put the two older guys in the movie, but really it’s about their son! And he’s gonna take over and we’re gonna do a spinoff. F–k that: If they’re gonna be in the movie, they’re gonna be in the movie — I don’t care how old they are.”
For those of you jonesing for more Lethal Weapon, let me remind you that Fox has a new television series debuting later this year based on the film franchise and starring Damon Wayans as Roger Murtaugh and Clayne Crawford as Martin Riggs. You’re welcome.
