The Lethal Weapon Series is Dead

Screenwriter Shane Black tells Moviehole that he doesn't think a Lethal Weapon 5 will ever happen. Black had written a script for the fifth film that he was expected to direct.

The site says that a contact at Warner Bros. Pictures agreed with Black, saying "That one is as good as dead. It won't happen. Which is a pity," adding that Black's screenplay was "fabulous. A much better send off than [Number 4]."

Last October, Richard Donner was quoted as saying that "Mel [Gibson] turned it down. I would like to think that Mel turned it down because I wasn't involved. Knowing Mel, I would like to think that. Would that be the kind of thing he does? It sure would be."

Back then, Donner said he had his own version of the fifth film in the works. "Channing Gibson, who wrote the fourth one, and Mike Riva, a designer on three of them, and myself and Derek [Hoffman, an associate at The Donner Company] had an incredibly strong story for the fifth movie. But we weren't given the opportunity and I think maybe I could have convinced Mel to do it. But Warners chose to go with Joel Silver."