It feels as if it was only a matter of time before these words were to be uttered but, Fox is developing a Lethal Weapon TV series. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the network put in a “hefty” put-pilot commitment for the highly sought after drama after a bidding war for the series transpired between them and NBC.
The project comes from Warner Bros. Television which makes sense as the movie franchise — which starred Mel Gibson and Danny Glover — was housed at Warner Bros. Pictures. According to the report, the TV series will follow the familiar story of “a Texas cop and former Navy SEAL Martin Riggs (originally played by 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 (Glover), who, having recently suffered a “minor” heart attack, must avoid any stress in his life.”
In recent days, a number of TV reboots have been announced including the likes of Training Day, Friday the 13th, Taken, To Live and Die In L.A., and The A-Team. These projects all have one thing in common: it seems the original producers involved with the movie projects will have some sort of influence with their new television adaptations. The same cannot be said for Lethal Weapon, as the original filmmakers have given the drama their blessing but will not be credited therein.
Instead, Fox has tapped Matt Miller (Forever, Chuck) to write and executive produce the new series. The network is placing a lot of hope and responsibility on Miller, whose ABC series Forever — which was about an immortal doctor who studied dead people to try and fix his own issues — ended up getting canceled after just one season.
Still, Fox may be onto something as the original 1987 movie grossed $120 million across the globe. Its three sequels ended up bringing in roughly $835 million worldwide and, to this day, the buddy cop story still brings enjoyment to fans the world over. My only request to Fox here, is please don’t mess this up. In the immortal words of Roger Murtaugh, “I’m getting too old for this sh*t.”
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)
