Years of scheduling conflicts and more recently the poor behavior and public image deterioration of Mel Gibson has Warner Bros. scrapping plans for a Lethal Weapon 5 and moving forward to reboot the film series with an all-new cast.
Per Deadline, Warner and producer Joel Silver have hired scribe Will Beall to pen the Lethal Weapon script based off a reboot idea he recently pitched. His story and approach reportedly maintains the hard R-rated angle that helped separate Lethal Weapon from other lighter buddy cop films.
Beall is coming off his screenplay for Gangster Squad, a hot property that Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer is already on board to direct for Warner. That project is not due to get underway until next year for a 2013 release.
If Lethal Weapon does manage to get off the ground and into production then I’m pulling for either a Danny Glover cameo or supporting role of some kind. Who knows? Mel Gibson’s The Beaver may be the first step toward him helping repair his public image and put him in a position to make an appearance.
