LETHAL WEAPON Reboot TV Series in Development at FOX
After spending years in development hell as a movie remake, Warner Bros. TV and FOX are teaming up to bring a Lethal Weapon reboot to the small screen.
The Hollywood Reporter has learned that the network has given the show a put-pilot commitment. The synopsis is as follows:
The TV version centers on a Texas cop and former Navy SEAL Martin Riggs (originally played by Mel Gibson) who, following the loss of his wife and baby, moves to Los Angeles to start anew. There, he gets partnered with LAPD detective Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover), who, having recently suffered a "minor" heart attack, must avoid any stress in his life.
The filmmakers behind the original movies (director Richard Donner, writer Shane Black, etc.) won't be involved with the TV version, though THR claims "the original filmmakers have blessed the TV reboot."
Gibson and Glover built excellent chemistry over the course of that franchise, and the addition of Joe Pesci's character changed the dynamic — some would argue for the worse — in the second film. It's going to be tough for new actors to be able to take the Riggs and Murtaugh characters and make them their own, and I don't envy the people who end up being cast in this production. Forever and Chuck writer Matt Miller will write the TV version, and we'll see if this ends up going all the way to series or being abandoned somewhere along the way like the movie reboot.