Mel Gibson confirms his return as Martin Riggs in the 5th installment of Lethal Weapon, ‘Lethal Weapon 5’

The 68-year-old actor first donned the mask of the Los Angeles police detective in 1987, for the first “Lethal Weapon." (Images via X)

Hollywood actor and film director, Mel Gibson who is widely known for his role in the post apocalyptic George Miller universe of the Mad Max franchise as Max Rockatansky, is going to be returning in the 5th installment of the “Lethal Weapon” film series. Not just as the Martin Riggs, but as the film’s director too!

The 68-year-old actor first donned the mask of the Los Angeles police detective in 1987, for the first “Lethal Weapon,” and the movie made waves in the action industry for it’s action packed sequences and the wonderful performances by Gibson and Danny Glover, both in the lead.

In a recent episode of the Steven Oxley’s podcast, “Inspire Me,” Gibson who appeared as a guest on the show commented on his involvement in the adrenaline-fueled franchise, when the topic of “Lethal Weapon 5” came up.

“I’m going to direct the fifth film in the ‘Lethal Weapon’ series,” said Gibson, as the entire audience began to hoot and cheer for the star on hearing the news. “You know, Richard Donner who did the other four sadly passed away and he was a good friend. He kind of tasked me with carrying the flag home on this one so it’ll be an honor for me to do that. He had gone a fair way with the screenplay, so we’ve used what was there and we kept poking at it. I’m pretty happy with it […] it’s funny, but it’s pretty serious too. It tackles a couple of hard issues. I’m looking forward to it. “

According to the “World of Reel”, last December, Daniel Richtman revealed that Jez Butterworth, known for his work on "Ford v Ferrari" (2019) and "Edge of Tomorrow” (2014), had crafted the latest script for 'Lethal Weapon 5'. The film is slated to begin filming sometime in 2024. Given that Gibson's fall schedule appears open, production might kick off then.

Prior to Butterworth's involvement, Richard Wenk, who wrote "The Equalizer” (2014) and "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” (2016), was responsible for one of the early drafts of the screenplay.

The idea of a 'Lethal Weapon 5' has been circulating for a while. In November 2021, Mel Gibson confirmed his plans to direct and star in the fifth installment, expressing his desire to honor the late Richard Donner, who had initially written the script and was set to direct before his passing in July 2021.

Gibson, with a directorial portfolio spanning thirty years and including titles like "Braveheart" (1995) and "Apocalypto" (2006), has recently completed filming "Flight Risk" with Mark Wahlberg, set to be released in October.