Shane Black on the Lethal Weapon sequel that never was

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

Last year I endeavored to begin filling in some of the gaps in my movie watching history; one set of films which I'd never gotten around to watching was the LETHAL WEAPON franchise. Long story short, they were all watched and all enjoyed and I promptly began kicking myself for letting my life go on for so long without Riggs and Murtagh in it. It's been almost twenty years since the last film in the LETHAL WEAPON franchise and there's been talk of a fifth installment for almost as long. While speaking with The Playlist recently, Shane Black discussed what he had in mind for LETHAL WEAPON 5.

I wrote a 62-page treatment with my friend Chuck for “Lethal Weapon 5” that would’ve been, I think, a very good movie. 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.

Given that we seem to be in the midst of a handful of "nostalgia sequels" such as JURASSIC WORLD and STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS, if there ever was a time to bring back Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) and Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson), it'd likely be now. Assuming all of the old gang would be down to return for LETHAL WEAPON 5, is that something you'd like to see or should the franchise be left where it is?

Shane Black's latest film, THE NICE GUYS, is currently playing in theaters and you check out a review of the film by our own Chris Bumbray right here!

We may not have LETHAL WEAPON 5, but we do have a Lethal Weapon TV series coming from Fox. Lovely…