LETHAL WEAPON from WARNER BROS. The production budget climbed to $15 million. It grabbed $120 million at the worldwide box office. (US movie ticket price $3.91). It stars Mel Gibson and Danny Glover as cop detectives who are polar opposites. One is borderline crazy and the other is a total family man.
During the 1980's. VHS home rentals were the rage. When a film finishes its' run at the movie theaters. It grabbed a new life on home video. "Weapon" was a huge rental and made even more money for Warner Bros. The buddy cop genre was revived with new actors.
The action crime film switched the family dynamic focusing on "black" characters. It was refreshing because minorities were categorized in a "box" with movies and on television. Roger Murtaugh (Glover) has a fun, normal, loving black family. Martin Riggs (Gibson) is an unstable white male detective whose job nearly drives him over the edge. It also helped that Riggs and Murtaugh had great chemistry despite their different personalities.
"Weapon" spawned 3 more movie sequels which starred Gibson and Glover. A TV series was created in 2016 which lasted 3 seasons on the FOX channel. A "Lethal Weapon 5" movie is planned but without its' original stars (too old?). There has been no announcement with the start of that production.
(In my opinion - The very first movie is the best. The second movie sequel is a close runner-up which has Joe Pesci who gives a great comic performance).
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