Lethal Weapon 5
Lethal Weapon 4 was a big hit. Why there is no part 5?
shareBecause Gibson and Glover arn't interested and won't do it without Donner
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MovieChat Forums > Lethal Weapon 4 (1998) Discussion > Lethal Weapon 5
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I'm not sure it was profitable even with foreign box office when you consider the percentage bonuses that the cast would have demanded. I think this film made its money over time from video/DVD sales and TV royalties. The box office set it on its way though.
There was serious talk of a part 5 a few years ago, but Donner gave an interview in either 2008 or 2009 where he explained he'd fallen out with Joel Silver. The story went that Silver was now trying to make LW5 without him, hiring Shane Black as director instead, and that he (Donner) suspected Gibson said no because he wanted to work with Donner again.
Donner (a Jewish filmmaker) also said he didn't believe Gibson was an anti-semite and that the infamous drunken rant was a cry for help. All this was before Mel's marital problems, and his recorded raging conversation at his much-younger second wife, hit the headlines. You can probably google the interview and find it.
Not sure I want a LW5, the fourth one tied its strands up pretty well at the end. Leave it be.
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Several factors.
1. (and probably the most important reason) Mel's well-publicized meltdown. He's not the likable leading man he was in 1998.
2. Donner's more or less retired.
3. Part 4 pretty much wrapped up the saga of Riggs and Murtaugh.
4. Gibson and Glover were too old for this sh*t in 1998, and they haven't gotten any younger...except for Rianne whose hotness multiplied by 3 with each successive movie.
An early 2000's could have worked before Mel went bugfreak insane--and probably would have helped prevent it, but not in 2012. Just let it go.
HOWEVER, a remake is in the works. Just what we needed. (Still, Idris Elba would make one awesome Murtaugh)