(*sigh*) I’m too old for this sh_t.
That’s right, Warner Brothers has hired a writer to reboot the Lethal Weapon franchise. THE DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY, IT DOES NOTHING! Because when I think of premises Hollywood hasn’t already done to death, I think interracial buddy cop movie. Apartheid schmaschmartheid, maybe in this version, Riggs can stop the oven-dodgers from causing all the world’s wars.
DEADLINE MAKES ME WANNA SMOOOOOOOKE…
Warner Bros and producer Joel Silver have set Will Beall to write Lethal Weapon, with a take that will relaunch the buddy cop series with a new cast. Beall, a former LA police officer who patrolled South Central and wrote the novel L.A. Rex, has seen his stock rise at the studio because of his script Gangster Squad, the period crime drama about an elite crime squad that fought against organized crime kingpins like Mickey Cohen. Zombieland helmer Ruben Fleischer has come aboard to direct that film.
Warner Bros has been messing around for some time with Lethal Weapon 5, with a treatment written by original scribe Shane Black. The plan was to bring the original team back, but schedules didn’t match up and Mel Gibson’s image has taken a self-inflicted beating [much like my wang -ed]. Beall pitched a take that maintains the tone of the original–a hard R-rated edgy street cop movie.
But will it be as good as Takers??? The only real question now is whether to do a sort of girl power take on it with Katherine Heigl and Queen Latifah, or go traditional and cast Channing Tatum and Nick Cannon. Decisions, decisions.
AFTER THE JUMP: Some other interracial buddy cop flicks, just off the top of my head…
Cop Out: 2010
Iron Man 2: 2010
Rush Hour trilogy
Blue Streak, 1999
Beverly Hills Cop: 1984, 1987, 1994
Men in Black: 1997, 2002, 2012
In the Heat of the Night: 1967, then on TV from 1988 – 1995
Miami Vice: 1984, 2006
2 Fast 2 Furious, etc.: 2003, etc.
Shanghai Noon: 2000
48 Hours: 1982, 1990
The Last Boy Scout: 1991
The Long Kiss Goodnight: 1996
Die Hard with a Vengeance: 1995
Showtime: 1992
National Security: 2003
Bulletproof: 1996
Running Scared:1986
Bad Company: 2002
Okay, I’m tired. Needless to say, there are a lot. And that’s not even counting White Men Can’t Jump, Salt and Pepper, Nothing to Lose, Money Talks, Etc., which are essentially the same thing.