Lethal Weapon

Lethal Weapon is a 1987 American action thriller film directed by Richard Donner and written by Shane Black. Starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, the film follows two mismatched LAPD detectives—Martin Riggs (Gibson), a volatile former Special Forces soldier struggling with suicidal impulses after his wife's death, and Roger Murtaugh (Glover), a seasoned homicide sergeant and devoted family man—who are partnered to investigate a young woman's apparent suicide during the Christmas season. The supporting cast includes Gary Busey, Tom Atkins, Darlene Love, and Mitchell Ryan. Conceived by then-unknown screenwriter Shane Black as a contemporary urban Western exploring trauma, masculinity, and moral decay in Los Angeles, the film underwent extensive development under producer Joel Silver and was shaped by Donner's emphasis on character dynamics and gallows humor. Black's script, among the highest-selling speculative scripts of the 1980s, helped redefine the buddy cop genre. Released theatrically in the United States on March 6, 1987, by Warner Bros., Lethal Weapon was both a critical and commercial success, grossing US$120.1 million worldwide against a $15 million budget and earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Sound. Its success established Gibson and Glover as major stars and solidified Donner's reputation for high-energy, character-driven, action filmmaking. Lethal Weapon spawned a media franchise that includes three sequels, beginning with Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), and a television adaptation.