GEORGE MF WASHINGTON: It’s The Budgets, Stupid…

Like every movie Hollywood makes, “Lethal Weapon” was a gamble. But at $15 million, it was the kind of low-risk gamble that Movie Studios in the 80’s made all the time.

Here in 2025, we all know that the gamble was a runaway success. The movie which was produced for $15 million grossed more than $120 million ($350 million in today’s dollars), spawned three sequels and a network TV series and has become a universally known part of the culture.

In modern Hollywood, where budgets have exploded seemingly beyond anyone’s control, we generally expect sequel budgets to rival the GDP of small African nations. But while “Lethal Weapon” was indeed a wildly successful franchise starter, WB managed to avoid the temptation to break the bank on a sequel. Yes, they did double the budget (from $15 million to $30 million) but in the context of 2025 where studio blockbusters can cost $250 million or more (the last “Captain America” installment cost an eye-watering $450 million), even adjusted to 2025 dollars “Lethal Weapon” and its first sequel were both cheap to make.

So how did they do it?

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