Richard Donner, the iconic director behind Goonies, Superman, and all four of the Lethal Weapon films, died today at the age of 91. His passing was confirmed by his wife, producer Lauren Schuler Donner, who did not reveal a cause of death. Donner started his career directing TV shows such as The Twilight Zone and Gilligan’s Island before advancing to films in 1976 with the Gregory Peck-starring horror feature The Omen, which led to one of the biggest superhero films of all time: 1978’s Superman with Christopher Reeves. Donner went on to direct Lethal Weapon and its sequels with Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, inspiring buddy-cop franchises to this day. It wasn’t too long ago that Donner said he’d be doing Lethal Weapon 5, but it’s unclear what will happen to that project now.
A dispute with the producers famously resulted in Donner taking his name off directing Superman II when Richard Lester was brought in after Donner had shot the majority of the movie; a director’s cut of the film with many of excised Donner-directed scenes was released in 2006.
Source: Deadline