Shane Black is the creator of the American buddy police action-comedy television series Lethal Weapon. It centers on Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh, two detectives with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). The franchise includes of a television series that ran from 2016 to 2019 and a set of four films that were released between 1987 and 1998. While the television series is a remake with new actors, the four films, all directed by Richard Donner, have many of the same cast members. Even if the first movie wasn’t overtly humorous, the television show and subsequent movies progressively turned humorous.

A proposed fifth Lethal Weapon film had been in talks and development since 2007, but has yet to make it into production. In September of 2022, director Mel Gibson expressed confidence that the film would begin shooting in the early months of 2023, and will most likely see a release date the same year.