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Lethal Weapon 5 Could Release On Streaming Instead Of Theaters
Lethal Weapon 5 could be released on streaming platforms instead of theaters, according to recent updates. The original Lethal Weapon movie was released in 1987 and became a huge box office success, grossing more than $120 million against a budget of just $15 million. It also cemented the reputations of its leading actors, Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, whilst spawning a hugely successful franchise. It was screenwriter Shane Black's first-ever produced screenplay, and signified another box office hit for director Richard Donner.
Lethal Weapon 2 followed in 1989, also a box office success, grossing more than $225 million globally. Two more sequels followed, with Lethal Weapon 3 (1992) and Lethal Weapon 4 (1998), as well as a moderately successful TV series, Lethal Weapon, regarded as a reboot, which ran three seasons on Fox before being cancelled by the network amid cast changes and tensions among the leads. There has long been talk of a fifth (and final) Lethal Weapon movie, but neither Glover nor Gibson showed a lot of interest. However, their stance changed over time, and in November 2020, Gibson confirmed a fifth movie is happening, with Donner, director of all previous Lethal Weapon movies, working on a screenplay. However, the years of on-off development saw the project thrown into limbo when Donner passed away in July of this year, so it seems Gibson will now take over as director.
According to reports from Deadline, this turn of events has made a theatrical release less likely. It now seems probable that Lethal Weapon 5 could see a release via streaming instead. Indeed, reports suggest the film will be developed for HBO Max, as the streaming platform looks to increase its appeal and add more exclusive feature films to its upcoming slate.
The most recent movie in the franchise, Lethal Weapon 4, grossed more than $285 million at the box office, but HBO Max would feel that paying subscribers are worth easily that much and more. Not to mention, movies getting a release on streaming platforms is nothing new these days, and since the global pandemic caused an economic shut down, this has become more and more commonplace. A lot of movies are getting theatrical runs and then moving to streaming platforms, as was the case with Black Widow streaming on Disney+. However, debuting on streaming sites and cutting out theaters completely could become the new normal, especially with the convenience of streaming services allowing more and more people to enjoy the movie than might be possible during a theatrical run.
While not much else is known about the movie so far, it seems certain Glover will join his co-star in the movie, bringing the two actors back together in the franchise for the first time in more than two decades. This will be a huge boost for fans who may have been concerned about recasting, and should help to make for a successful release for the movie if and when it is released on HBO Max, as was the case with recent Sopranos prequel movie, The Many Saints of Newark. As a relative newcomer to the world of online streaming, HBO Max needs to be making big statements in order to compete with the big names such as Netflix and Hulu, and Lethal Weapon 5 could go a long way toward helping with this.
