Yesterday we reported on several potential remakes that Warner Brothers Pictures was contemplating moving forward on. It seems that the studio is already moving forward with one of those projects. Deadline is reporting that the studio has hired LA police officer-turned-screenwriter Will Beall to begin work on a script rebooting the popular Lethal Weapon franchise.
It’s understandable that Warner Brothers would want to stay in the Lethal Weapon business, as the four entries in the franchise have managed to gross $955 million at the box office. However, scheduling problems and star Mel Gibson’s highly public personal problems put the brakes on a potential Lethal Weapon 5 featuring the franchise’s original cast. A reboot certainly makes sense from a studio standpoint.
Although its screenplay helped launch the career of writer Shane Black, Lethal Weapon soared to popularity on the chemistry between stars Gibson and Danny Glover. Is it possible to replicate that today? The may come close, but I doubt that they’ll be able to top the original.
