Could ‘Lethal Weapon 5’ Start Filming in 2023?

Is Lethal Weapon 5 starting production in early 2023? Mel Gibson certainly hopes so.

Gibson, 66, is set to revisit the character of Martin Riggs in the upcoming buddy cop franchise, which IMDB has listed as in development with HBO Max as well as the production company, Donners’ Company.

Sitting down with Screen Rant, Gibson revealed that he had been working on the script with Richard Wenk, who has also worked The Equalizer films, and is currently working The Equalizer 3.

“Well, Donner developed it, Richard Donner, of course, developed it with Richard Wenk, and they had a really good template. I had the honor 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,” Gibson noted, “We tried to get that flavor, and we were pretty happy with what we came up with.”

The film’s original director, Richard Donner, passed away in Summer of 2021, due to heart failure from an underlying cause of atherosclerosis. It was announced in November 2021 that Gibson would take over the film’s directing duties.

Lethal Weapon 5 Filming

As far as when production will start, Mel Gibson says he’s confident that early 2023 will be the timing.

“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 says.

The delays Gibson referenced were due to some major changes at Warner Brothers. Those are the same changes that saw shakeups such as the scrapping of the Batgirl film.

“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.” Gibson states.

Fans of the original Lethal Weapon movies will also be delighted to hear that Danny Glover will also return as Roger Murtaugh. Bob Jennings, who is best known for 2018’s Den of Thieves, is also onboarded to the project.. He also starred as “Sheriff #1” in 1998’s Lethal Weapon 4. So it’s likely that he’ll return as the same character, perhaps with a more expanded role.

Are you excited to see Lethal Weapon 5? Sound off with your thoughts on the news in the comment section below!