LETHAL WEAPON 5 with Mel Gibson Directing? It’s Very Possible |

Lethal Weapon 5 with Mel Gibson Directing? It’s Very Possible

Today at Life After Gateway, news about the Lethal Weapon action franchise.

The first in the series was remarkable at the time. It was indeed a Christmas action film, but it was also unique in that the hero was flawed, vulnerable, and suffering from trauma. He wasn’t invincible and he wasn’t a superhuman. Martin Riggs had a particular skillset, but his lack of concern about his own well being, because of the loss of his wife, made him a “lethal weapon.” He wasn’t scared to die, to put it bluntly, and this made him deadly to criminals everywhere in Los Angeles.

Imagine being an older detective in the last week of your career — on the cusp of retiring — and being partnered with this guy. What a great setup to a buddy-cop film.

The storyline for the first Lethal Weapon from IMDB:

A woman falls to her death and the police determine that it was murder. Put on the case is Sergeant Roger Murtaugh. He is paired with a new partner, Martin Riggs. The two are polar opposites: Murtaugh an aging by-the-book family man and Riggs, unconventional devil-may-care and suicidal after the death of his wife. They’re just going to have to get along.

It was an interesting concept. Throw in a great story, fascinating protagonists which included Gary Busey and Al Leong, and incredible chemistry between Mel Gibson and Danny Glover (Saw), and it made for an exceptional actioner. In fact, in the past I’ve called it a “character-based action film,” a genre of which has now mostly disappeared from theatres.

The News

Now Gibson is talking about Part 5. Richard Donner had written the script and was going to direct, but he sadly passed away last year. According to Gibson’s interview at Collider, he says Donner asked him to direct it should he pass away, and Gibson said “absolutely.”

The film’s story, according to Gibson, is:

“The characters are quite different. They’re older. One’s retired. The other one’s on a desk job. He’s putting on too much weight, and it’s low-tech. It doesn’t get into the big explosions and all this sort of stuff. But it still has the energy and, I think, drive of a big action film.”

It’s currently stuck in development and bogged down due to the Paramount/Warner merger, which is still pending. But as soon as those details are worked out, look for Gibson’s Lethal Weapon 5 at a theatre near you. Would you watch it? Tell me in the comments. As more news arrives, I’ll post it here at Life After Gateway. In the meantime, here’s Roger Murtagh meeting his new partner, Martin Riggs, for the first time. Listen to Glover’s famous catch phrase at the end. Credit to YouTube channel Bib48_MovieClips:

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A Blanket of Steel by Timothy S. Johnston and from Fitzhenry & Whiteside, LTD. is the recipient of the 2024 GLOBAL Thriller Award GRAND PRIZE and the 2024 CYGNUS Award First in Category.

— Timothy S. Johnston, 17 August 2026

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Praise for Timothy S. Johnston’s A Blanket of Steel

“Fans of Clive Cussler’s NUMA Files will be delighted with Timothy S. Johnston’s undersea novels. Truman McClusky and Dirk Pitt are cut from the same adventurer’s cloth.” — Nick Cutter, author of The Deep and The Troop

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“Read the book and prepare to be blown away by one of the best writers I have ever had the pleasure to read. Timothy S. Johnston is simply amazing.” — FIVE Stars from Readers’ Favorite

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A BLANKET OF STEEL is out now!

WATCH THE GRIPPING BOOK TRAILER HERE.

FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE

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A Blanket of Steel from Timothy S. Johnston and Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Ltd.

Book Cover & Jacket Copy:

AN UNSTOPPABLE THREAT!

A mysterious assassin has murdered Cliff Sim, Chief Security Officer of the underwater colony, Trieste. Cliff was a mountain of a man, highly trained, and impossible to defeat in combat. And yet …

Someone brutally beat him and left his broken body in a secret Chinese facility at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

And included a calling card for Truman McClusky, Mayor of Trieste.

Taunting him.

Mac has led the underwater colonies in their fight against the world’s superpowers. Climate change has devastated the surface; nations suffer famine, drought, rebellion, rising waters, and apocalyptic coastal flooding. But now, as Mac leads the underwater colonies to freedom and independence, he’s faced with the gravest threat of his life: a Russian assassin, hellbent on killing Mac and everyone he cares for. Now Mac must uncover the identity of the killer, face him in combat, and at the same time lead people in battle against the largest underwater force ever assembled. It’s Mac’s final test, and to win the war, he must use every tool at his disposal, including the most surprising and devastating underwater weapons ever invented.

If Mac fails, all hope is lost for the future of human colonization on the ocean floors.

But the assassin could be anyone …

Watch your back, Mac.

A Blanket of Steel is the most gripping thriller yet in The Rise of Oceania.

FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE

The other books in The Rise of Oceania series by Timothy S Johnston:

The War Beneath 9781771484718
The Savage Deeps 9781771485067
Fatal Depth 9781554555574
An Island of Light 9781554555819
The Shadow of War 9781554556007