Mel Gibson Set To Direct Lethal Weapon 5

Lethal Weapon 5 is moving ahead once again, with Mel Gibson set to direct. THR reports that Gibson will helm the film, which was in development before original franchise director Richard Donner passed away in July.

The film is expected to be the last entry in the franchise and was put on hold after Donner, who directed all four previous films, passed. Richard Wenk (the Equalizer films) wrote the latest draft of the script, which has been in the works for years. The site reports that Donner’s wife, Lauren Shuler Donner, a producer in her own right who produced all the FOX films in the X-Men franchise including Deadpool, blessed and may have even instigated the shift to Gibson as director.

Gibson noted during an Experience With … event in London on Sunday that he was taking on the film, saying that Donner “was developing the screenplay and he got pretty far along with it. And he said to me one day, ‘Listen, Kid, if I kick the bucket, you will do it.’ And I said, ‘Shut up.’ He did indeed pass away. But he did ask me to do it and, at the time, I didn’t say anything. He said it to his wife and to the studio and the producer. So, I will be directing the fifth one.”

There is no release date currently set for the film.