lethal weapon

Fox Steps Up To Adapt LETHAL WEAPON For Television

The era of reboots and remakes continues on screens big and small as there are plenty to talk about that are forthcoming or otherwise developing. This week now, we may add the long popular Lethal Weapon franchise in the mix with Fox committing to a pilot according to a new report at THR.

This is actually strange considering I last expected it would go to the big screen. Actor Chris Hemsworth’s name circulated once last year for a brewing film reboot under the working title, Lionhunters, with news of a reboot dating back as far as 2008 at the behest of franchise producer Joel Silver. Shane Black was tasked to provide script treatment by Shane Black followed by a retouching with Gangster Squad screenwriter Will Beall in 2011 for Fast And Furious franchise helmer Justin Lin to direct.

Richard Donner helmed all four films between 1987 and 1998 in which actors Mel Gibson and Danny Glover played two dissenting cops from different precincts who ultimately forge a budding partnership and friendship through bullets, blood, bare-fisted knuckle brawls, high-speed car chases and assortment of explosive cop heroics. The franchise drew in well over $800 million dollars at the box office.

I’m not too sure yet about how to feel about this particular move for a franchise. I’m not too keen on shows since I love a good feature film that keeps my attention. And as for it being a small screen remake, I can imagine it’ll be hard to keep the same tone of the films for what local televsion broadcasting demands. Let’s see where this goes.

PREDATOR Is Getting Rebooted

Lee B. Golden III

The Predator franchise is still a thing among fans worldwide since the eponymous alien tribal warrior and hunter launched its war on mankind and other living creatures between John McTiernan’s 1987 jungle thriller with lead actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the 2010 epic from director Nimród Antal, Predators. The film also landed two other spin-off movies before Antal’s film which crossed between its own franchise and the Aliens universe, but Predators was the last known project that was confirmed for a sequel upon its release that same month in July.

Since then, not much has happened for a fourth film to follow Antal’s entry, especially with the third film’s producer, Robert Rodriguez busier nowadays with his new operations in Texas for El Rey Network and other obligations. This week however, the word now is that Iron Man 3 director Shane Black is coming aboard Twentieth Century Fox’s new push to help reboot the franchise altogether.

Black, who also had a cameo in the first film, is most prolifically known for his writing work for the 1987 buddy cop action blockbuster franchise launch, Lethal Weapon, and his work on the horror comedy, Monster Squad that same year with co-writer Fred Dekker. Dekker will be enhancing Black’s treatment with a new script which Jon Davis, who helped produce McTiernan’s 1987 film, will also produce.

Black has two other films he’s working on now, but the issue may still remain for some pertaining to just why Fox wants to reboot the film. It could still move ahead with a Predators 2 movie if the studio chose to, with actor Adrien Brody and actress Alice Braga potentially returning. At any rate now, with a reboot set in stone and no specifics out just yet, there’s plenty of time to speculate. So, the speculating begin!

H/T: THR

Will Chris Hemsworth Be A 'LIONHUNTER' For The Upcoming LETHAL WEAPON Reboot?

Lee B. Golden III

For now, Marvel fans will have their leading man for Asgardian superhero, Thor, in actor Chris Hemsworth in the forthcoming releases of Avengers: Age Of Ultron, and the currently-developing Thor 3. Although, it is worthy of noticing when an actor like Hemsworth finally puts Mjölnir down and steps into other roles, which brings us to the latesr updates regarding the long-developing reboot of the Lethal Weapon franchise.

Sources now indicate that Hemsworth is up for a role in new film with the working title, Lionhunters. The Lethal Weapon reboot was announced back in 2008 at the behest of franchise producer Joel Silver with script treatment by Shane Black followed by a retouching with Gangster Squad screenwriter Will Beall in 2011. Originally, the plan was to reboot the franchise with the original team, led by actors Mel Gibson and Danny Glovers reprising their roles as seasoned L.A. detectives Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh, respectively, in what might have been the film’s finale.

Also updating previous news of Zombieland helmer Reuben Fleischer’s attachment is the word that Fast And Furious 3-6 helmer Justin Lin is now being tapped to direct the film, following the production of his upcoming kung fu reboot, Shaolin Temple 3D, and a new Bourne film by August of next year.

All four Lethal Weapon films were directed by franchise helmer Richard Donner and became nearly $1 billion dollar blockbuster four-film success story between 1987 and 1998. I’m not too sure what the new working title would entail as it seems very peculiar.

Hemsworth‘s name was most recently mentioned alongside The Hunger Games franchise co-star, actor, Liam Hemsworth (although yet to be confirmed if anything), to star as the brother characters for The Expendables 3 helmer Patrick Hughes’ upcoming action crime remake, The Raid for XYZ Films. The actor is also poised to star in director Michael Mann’s upcoming international thriller, Cyber, as well as a 2016 follow-up to Snow White And The Huntsman (2012).

Stay tuned for more details!

H/T: TrackingBoard via ComingSoon.net

FILM OF THE WEEK (4/15/13): LETHAL WEAPON (1987)

Lee B. Golden III

SYNOPSIS:

When two reluctantly partnered homicide detective sergeants, Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh, are assigned to look into the mysterious death of a prostitute, the case becomes a murder investigation into an elaborate drug smuggling operation run by former Vietnam soldiers. But when they kidnap Riggs and Murtaugh along with Murtaugh’s daughter, things get personal, and the only thing that matters for Riggs and Murtaugh, is vengeance!

It was announced in 2011 that Warner Bros. set plans in motion to reboot the 1987 buddy cop action blockbuster, Lethal Weapon, which starred Mel Gibson and Danny Glover as the classic characters, Detective Seargants Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh. The original film, directed and co-produced by Richard Donner, became a major commerical success and spawned three more sequels through 1998, tentatively ending the franchise with the release of Lethal Weapon 4, which shot then Hong Kong action star Jet Li to stardom.

While Lethal Weapon is not the first film of its kind to follow the buddy cop genre, the film is still heralded as classic among classics. It has high-adrenaline action scenes, intense drama, epic gun battles and plenty of memorable of poignancy and awkward comedy to connect the audience to the story. Plus, the chemistry between Gibson and Glover is brilliant. When they are on screen, they are not artificial or superhumam. The performances are organic and relatable, and the development between both of these characters is nothing short of exquisite. Moreover, fight trainers Cedric Adams, Dennis Newsome and Rorion Gracie were hired to help almagamate several fighting styles to manifest the exhilarating fight scenes featuring coordinated by the late Bobby Bass, whose IMDb credits are an absolute list of famous action movie titles, including Black Rain, Preadtor, The Crow, Rising Sun,The Bodyguard, The Perfect Weapon and many more.

It’s no wonder that this film deserves its appreciation if it does get rebooted. The original film brought a sense of pure and raw value to the buddy cop genre that might become difficult to duplicate or re-envision in a reboot. Although, as sure as I am that the franchise has pretty much made all its money back by now, lol, I am a proud action film fan, and I do look forward to whatever the studio comes up with when Will Beall’s script is finally realized in the film’s production. It may have been a few years since its announcement, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will not happen. Considering how Glover and Gibson have already explained how they feel about the reboot, it’s totally understandable how some may feel about it too. At any rate, however, we will see how this story turns out.

In the meantime, there is not much else I can say about the film except, well, if you or someone you know is suffering from a severe action film deficiency, you can find the film on DVD or Blu-Ray whever movies are sold. You can also find the complete box set at Amazon.

The film was also produced by Joel Silver for Silver Pictures, based on a screenplay by Shane Black, and was distributed by Warner Bros.

Photo Credit: Film-Cine