'Lethal Weapon' Nearly Had a Very Different Title, if Executives Had Their Way
Shane Black has been talking a fair bit about Lethal Weapon while doing the rounds for his latest buddy comedy The Nice Guys, and he revealed an interesting piece of info that would have seen Lethal Weapon wearing a very different moniker on all its posters.
Studio executives apparently didn't like the title Lethal Weapon, and thought that 'Hot Shots' would be a far better sell for audiences. Thank god that didn't happen.
They also weren't behind Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) being suicidal, which is of course a defining part of the character's psyche. "Cut to the studio meeting. They hear the hero’s suicidal — that’s the core of it, that’s kind of why the series succeeded — they didn’t like it at first.
"Couldn’t he just be a really good cop? And the title Lethal Weapon doesn’t test well with women. I said, ‘Well, what do you wanna call it?’ [They wanted to call it] Hot Shots. I’m not kidding."
Given the critical success already for The Nice Guys, Black should probably be left to handle his own projects. He's proven wildly successful with his own formula.
Source: Cinemablend
