59 Fun Facts About Lethal Weapon

In the first Lethal Weapon, what does the autopsy on balcony-jumper Amanda Hunsaker reveal?

Her drugs were poisoned. They had been laced with drain cleaner, so she would have died even without the fall, which turns an apparent suicide into the murder case Riggs and Murtaugh are thrown together to solve.

Where does Riggs's final fistfight with Mr. Joshua take place in the first Lethal Weapon?

Outside Murtaugh's house. The partners had guessed Joshua would go there for revenge and were waiting; Riggs could simply have arrested him but challenged him to a fistfight instead, with fellow officers looking on.

Which star's 1987 sequel outgrossed Lethal Weapon?

Eddie Murphy. Lethal Weapon, No. 1 for its first three weekends, was the year's biggest new release until his Beverly Hills Cop II opened on 20 May and took more than twice as much in North America.

In the Lethal Weapon films, what is the first name of Mel Gibson's character, Riggs?

Martin. His superiors can't decide whether Martin Riggs's death wish since losing his wife is real or an act to get himself pensioned off, so they pair him with a steady family man.

In the first Lethal Weapon, the villains kidnap which member of Murtaugh's family?

His daughter Rianne. Her kidnappers want to know what the banker Hunsaker told him, so Murtaugh walks out to meet them with a grenade in his hand while Riggs, whom they believe dead, covers him from a distance.

During which holiday season is the first Lethal Weapon set?

Christmas became a trademark of the film's writer, who set several later scripts at the holiday and calls it "a hush in which we have a chance to assess and retrospect our lives".

How does Riggs bring a suicidal man down from a rooftop in the first Lethal Weapon?

Cuffs himself to him and jumps: Riggs cares so little whether he lives that he leaps first, and a shaken Murtaugh realises his new partner really is suicidal.

Who plays the villainous Mr. Joshua in the first Lethal Weapon?

Gary Busey had never played a bad guy before Mr. Joshua; until then he was best known for his Oscar-nominated lead in The Buddy Holly Story.

What is the name of the drug-smuggling operation of ex-CIA mercenaries in the first Lethal Weapon?

Shadow Company began as a CIA-run unit of trained killers in the Vietnam War, where it burned the enemy's heroin; years later its veterans regrouped to smuggle the drug themselves.

What present does Riggs leave for Murtaugh at the end of the first Lethal Weapon?

A hollow-point bullet: Riggs had been saving it to shoot himself, and he hands it to Murtaugh's daughter with word that he won't need it anymore.

Which actor recalls passing on Lethal Weapon after a girlfriend read the script and called it 'way too violent'?

Bruce Willis told the story in a 2007 interview about Die Hard, the action hit he made a year after Lethal Weapon came out, joking: "Thank God I didn't do that one!"

Which Western reunites Lethal Weapon's two stars in a brief unbilled cameo scene?

Maverick, made by the series' director in 1994, has Mel Gibson's gambler and a masked bank robber share a look of recognition before the robber mutters that he's too old for this.

Who composed the score for the Lethal Weapon films?

Michael Kamen was hired after the film's editor cut scenes to his music for the BBC thriller Edge of Darkness; he later admitted he hated the script, yet he scored all four films.

Which guitarist performs Riggs's theme in the Lethal Weapon scores?

Eric Clapton came as a package with the composer, his partner on a BBC thriller score, who said he disliked the script and only took the job because Clapton liked Mel Gibson.

The first Lethal Weapon earned its only Academy Award nomination in which category?

Best Sound went to The Last Emperor, which won all nine awards it was up for; the second film's sound editing was nominated two years later, yet no Lethal Weapon film ever won an Oscar.

Which martial art did Rorion Gracie teach Mel Gibson for Riggs's fight scenes in the first Lethal Weapon?

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Gracie recalls being hired after a crew member saw him fight a kickboxer, and in 1993 he co-founded the Ultimate Fighting Championship to show off the style.

Who plays Murtaugh's wife Trish in the Lethal Weapon films?

Darlene Love was a hidden voice of 1960s pop: she sang lead on the chart-topping "He's a Rebel", which was released under the Crystals' name, long before playing Trish in all four films.

How does Riggs win a squad-room bet by escaping a straitjacket in Lethal Weapon 2?

Dislocates his shoulder: an old injury lets Riggs pop it out whenever he likes, though he admits it hurts far more when he slams it back in.

Which studio bought the first Lethal Weapon script for $250,000 and released all four films?

Warner Bros. bought the script within a week of its young writer finishing it, and the four films it spawned went on to gross more than $950 million worldwide.

In Lethal Weapon 2, where is Murtaugh sitting when he learns a bomb is wired beneath him?

On his toilet: Murtaugh stays put all night until Riggs finds him, then the pair dive into the cast-iron bathtub under a bomb blanket as it goes off.

The villains of Lethal Weapon 2 come from which country?

South Africa was still under apartheid, and Murtaugh distracts the villains' office staff by turning up to announce that he wants to emigrate there.

What legal shield do the villains of Lethal Weapon 2 hide behind?

Diplomatic immunity is what the ringleader claims once more at gunpoint in the last shoot-out; Murtaugh shoots him anyway and says it has "just been revoked".

Who plays Roger Murtaugh, the veteran detective forever 'too old for this', in the Lethal Weapon films?

Danny Glover was only 40 when he first played Murtaugh, a detective who turns 50 as the story begins and already feels past it.

What happened to Riggs at the end of the rejected first draft of Lethal Weapon 2?

He was killed in a climactic battle with his arch-nemesis; the producers rejected the draft, titled Play Dirty, as too grim, and its writer left the project.

Where does the climax of Lethal Weapon 2 take place?

Aboard a docked freighter, the Alba Varden: Murtaugh realises the name on a stolen note is a ship when he spots it in the background of his own home video.

Which weapon does Murtaugh use to kill two assassins in his home in Lethal Weapon 2?

A nail gun was within reach because a builder was working on the house; Murtaugh fires it at both intruders, then mutters that he "nailed them both".

Who plays Rika van den Haas, Riggs's love interest in Lethal Weapon 2?

Patsy Kensit, then the singer of the pop band Eighth Wonder, plays the secretary whose drowning by her own bosses sends Riggs after them for revenge.

In Lethal Weapon 2, what does the villain Vorstedt confess after capturing Riggs?

He caused his wife's death: the car crash that left Riggs a suicidal widower was a hit meant for Riggs himself, ordered years earlier when he got too close to the gang.

Which ex-Beatle contributed the song 'Cheer Down' to the Lethal Weapon 2 soundtrack?

George Harrison wrote "Cheer Down" with Tom Petty, and it plays over the closing credits; the title is said to come from his wife Olivia, who used the phrase to calm him when he got carried away.

Lethal Weapon 2 finished third in 1989's North American box office behind Batman and what?

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade took $197 million in North America to Lethal Weapon 2's $147 million, though the cop sequel did knock Batman off the top spot on its opening weekend.

What do Riggs and Lorna Cole compare, one by one, in Lethal Weapon 3's seduction scene?

Their scars: the two cops swap stories of old wounds, each trying to top the other, until the contest turns into the film's love scene.

Who plays Internal Affairs officer Lorna Cole, introduced in Lethal Weapon 3?

Rene Russo trained with martial artists for the role, and Lorna shows what she learned when she and Riggs confront a gang loading stolen guns.

The villain of Lethal Weapon 3, Jack Travis, is a former what?

LAPD lieutenant: Travis knows the station well enough to walk into an interrogation room and shoot a captured accomplice, but he is caught on a newly hidden camera.

In Lethal Weapon 3, what is Murtaugh only days away from when the story begins?

His retirement is days away as he counts them down through the film, but by the end he has taken his house off the market and decided to stay on the force with Riggs.

Lethal Weapon 3 opens by blowing up the real former City Hall of which Florida city?

Orlando had just built a new City Hall right behind the old one, so the city let the film-makers blow it up; its mayor appears as the cop who claps and says "Bravo".

In Lethal Weapon 3, Riggs and Murtaugh first catch up with Jack Travis at which kind of game?

An ice hockey game: Leo Getz once got Travis seats, so he leads the cops to a Los Angeles Kings match, where Travis shoots him in the arm and escapes.

Which singer co-wrote and performed 'It's Probably Me' for the Lethal Weapon 3 soundtrack?

Sting wrote the lyrics to music by the film's composer and its guitarist, and the song opens on a rhythm made from the clicks of a Zippo lighter.

Which actress worked as an uncredited script doctor on Lethal Weapon 3?

Carrie Fisher, famous as Princess Leia, spent the 1990s as one of Hollywood's most sought-after script doctors, also fixing Hook and Sister Act without credit.

Which Lethal Weapon film is the series' highest-grossing worldwide?

The third film grossed about $320 million worldwide, yet in North America it finished just behind the second, with about $145 million to its $147 million.

What did studio chief Robert Daly buy for the stars and film-makers after Lethal Weapon 3's success?

Land Rovers: at a party marking the film's first $100 million, Daly tipped seven sets of keys to new Range Rovers onto the table and told his stars to pick a colour.

Which martial-arts star made his Hollywood debut as the villain of Lethal Weapon 4?

Jet Li was a star in Hong Kong but a newcomer to American audiences, and the role led straight to his first Hollywood lead, in Romeo Must Die two years later.

Which comedian plays Detective Lee Butters in Lethal Weapon 4?

Chris Rock's Butters is secretly married to Murtaugh's pregnant daughter, and the truth only slips out when the cops inhale laughing gas at a dentist's office.

The criminals in Lethal Weapon 4 are smuggling immigrants from which country?

China is also where four jailed crime bosses are held: the gang smuggles in an engraver's family so that he will forge the banknotes meant to buy their freedom.

Who officiates the marriage of Riggs and Lorna at the hospital at the end of Lethal Weapon 4?

A rabbi is who Leo comes back with when Riggs begs him to fetch a priest, a minister, anything, so that Lorna can say "I do" before the baby arrives.

Which film did Lethal Weapon 4 dethrone in July 1998?

Armageddon had ruled the previous weekend; Lethal Weapon 4 beat it with a $34 million opening, though its cameras had only started rolling that January with the script unfinished.

Why are Riggs and Murtaugh promoted to captain in Lethal Weapon 4?

To keep them off the streets: the department has lost its insurance over the damage they cause and cannot fire them, so the chief promotes them out of harm's way.

Which cast member of Lethal Weapon 4 received a Razzie nomination for Worst Supporting Actor?

Joe Pesci was nominated for his third turn as motormouth Leo Getz, but the Razzie went to Joe Eszterhas, a screenwriter who appeared as himself in a flop he had written.

On which network did the Lethal Weapon television reboot air from 2016 to 2019?

Fox cancelled the reboot after three seasons, the last of them made without its original Riggs: Clayne Crawford was dropped after the second and Murtaugh got a new partner.

Who played Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon TV series?

Damon Wayans ended up quoting his character: in 2018 he announced he would leave the show, saying he was a 58-year-old diabetic working 16-hour days and "too old for this".

Which actor joined the TV series in season three as Riggs's replacement, Wesley Cole?

Seann William Scott, best known as Stifler in American Pie, was recruited when the original Riggs actor was let go; his Wesley Cole is a former CIA operative and father adjusting to Los Angeles.

Who plays Leo Getz in the Lethal Weapon TV series?

Thomas Lennon, best known for the cop spoof Reno 911!, plays a TV Leo who is a lawyer rather than the films' money-laundering accountant.

Which producer, later famous for Die Hard and The Matrix, produced the Lethal Weapon films?

Joel Silver produced all four films with their director; the series' composer fondly called him "a very, very tasteful, sweet guy who makes some very untasteful, unsweet movies".

In Lethal Weapon 2, what is Murtaugh's daughter advertising in her first TV commercial?

Condoms: Riggs has told the whole squad to tune in, so a dismayed Murtaugh predicts he will find rubbers on his desk, in his mail and in his coffee.

What working title was announced in 2018 for the long-planned fifth Lethal Weapon film?

Lethal Finale would be "very dark", its director promised when he revealed the title; after he died in 2021, Mel Gibson stepped in to direct the sequel himself.

Lethal Weapon's original screenwriter also acted, playing the joke-telling commando Hawkins in which film?

Predator makes Hawkins the first of the commandos to die, yet the man who played him came back 31 years later to direct the 2018 sequel.

Which comedy team does Riggs love to watch on television in the Lethal Weapon films?

The Three Stooges: a scene restored in the first film's Director's Cut has the lonely widower pay a streetwalker simply to come home and watch them with him.

Which saxophonist performs Murtaugh's theme in the first Lethal Weapon score?

David Sanborn was the film editor's idea, the composer recalled: he bristled at being told which saxophonist to hire, until he heard the name of his old friend.

Time magazine summed up the first Lethal Weapon as 'Mad Max meets' which sitcom?

The Cosby Show: Mel Gibson had played Mad Max, and reviewers likened Murtaugh's wisecracking family to the Huxtables; Time's critic added that the mix works better than you might imagine.

In Lethal Weapon 3, what does Riggs chew to help him quit smoking?

Dog biscuits: Murtaugh's cure works too well, and by the end Riggs is back on cigarettes to forget what he calls his "dog-biscuit problem".