Mel Gibson Just Gave His Most Hopeful ‘Lethal Weapon 5’ Update Yet, and It Comes with a Complication Fans Can’t Ignore

Few franchises have spent as long in limbo as ‘Lethal Weapon 5.’ Mel Gibson has been talking about resurrecting the buddy-cop series in some form since taking over directing duties following the 2021 death of original filmmaker Richard Donner, and the project has repeatedly seemed close to moving forward before quietly stalling out again.

Gibson has used nearly every convention appearance over the past year to keep that hope alive. At Fan Expo Boston, he told Collider he and screenwriter Richard Wenk had finished a script he believes is stronger than any of the previous four films, even as he admitted the project remains tangled in what he called “industrial film hell” tied to Warner Bros.’ complicated business situation.

That optimism carried into Fan Expo Canada in Toronto, where Gibson appeared for a career retrospective panel covering his work on ‘Braveheart,’ ‘Mad Max,’ and ‘Lethal Weapon.’ Once again, he expressed hope of bringing his longtime co-star Danny Glover back for a fifth installment, signaling that the reunion he’s been chasing for years still isn’t off the table.

That hope now carries a heavier weight than it did even a few months ago. In July 2026, Danny Glover publicly revealed he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, a condition he had reportedly kept private for three years before going public with it.

The news initially seemed like it could put the long-gestating sequel to rest for good. Gibson, however, has remained undeterred, continuing to talk about the project and his commitment to directing it even after Glover’s diagnosis became public knowledge.

Gibson has also floated a potential path forward tied to Warner Bros.’ own uncertain future. Speaking with Collider, he suggested the script had gotten buried amid Warner’s difficulties, but that David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance absorbing the studio could finally give ‘Lethal Weapon 5’ the push it needs to move into production.

The story Gibson has described for the film leans into the characters’ age rather than working around it. He’s said the two leads are “quite different” now, with one retired and the other stuck behind a desk, and that the film intentionally strips away the massive explosions of earlier installments in favor of something more grounded, built around a foot chase filmed with the intensity of a car chase.

Gibson has also been clear about wanting the film to feel like Donner’s vision rather than a nostalgia play. He’s said Donner had already begun developing the story before his death, and that he and Wenk worked from that foundation while asking themselves what Donner would have wanted, ultimately landing on a screenplay Gibson has repeatedly called the best of the entire franchise.

For now, ‘Lethal Weapon 5’ remains without a confirmed release date, a director’s chair Gibson insists he still wants to fill, and a co-star facing a diagnosis that complicates everything about how, or whether, the reunion actually happens. Every convention appearance from here forward is likely to be read as a fresh signal of where things stand.

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