After a month of bad publicity for Mel Gibson, new rumors are beginning to surface that the actor has been meeting with producer Joel Silver in hopes of reprising his role as Martin Riggs in the long awaited sequel Lethal Weapon 5. The actor had been asked to sign onto the film back in 2005, but he is only now seriously considering it after falling from grace with both his fans and the general public.

What's Playing is reporting that talks of Gibson returning to the franchise are on-going between Mel and Silver, who has long hoped to bring the series back from the dead.

Their anonymous source, who is a writer currently working for Type A films, stated, ""They're talking again. Mel probably needs Joel, not to mention Lethal Weapon now more than ever, so I wouldn't at all be surprised if it comes off this time. And it could be a good move, that's a mighty big brand name - it probably would help Gibson, professionally-speaking. I'm not in on those conversations though - so I don't know how they're progressing. You're getting this third-hand".

At this stage, this should all be considered nothing more than a rumor. We will keep you updated as more news on this issue comes in.