After the success of "Superman", Donner attempted a film with more substance, "Inside Moves" (1980), an offbeat picture examining a suicide survivor's recovery. Featuring David Morse, John Savage, Amy Wright and Diana Scarwid among its 70s dark horse cast, this well-meaning but flawed film failed to generate much business. Donner, who started out as director of "Superman II" (1981) before giving way to Richard Lester, had a much more positive experience on the fantasy-adventure film "Ladyhawke"(1985), sharing producing duties with his future wife Lauren Shuler in addition to directing. He also co-produced the exciting teen hit "The Goonies"(1985) with Steven Spielberg.
Donner produced and directed "Lethal Weapon" (1987), introducing one of the cinema's most popular crime fighting duo, Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, and subsequently repeated his duties for the popular and cartoonish sequels, "Lethal Weapon 2" (1989) and "Lethal Weapon 3" (1992). At the same time, Donner returned to television as executive producer/producer and sometime director of the HBO series "Tales From the Crypt" (1989-91). In 1990, Donner took over the direction of the hotly bid-upon project "Radio Flyer" (1992) for a reportedly record fee of $5 million, replacing fired screenwriter and first-time director David Mickey Evans. This odd film, half sentimental journey, half an exploration of child abuse, flopped commercially and raised critical hackles for its questionable notion that living in fantasy alone is enough for abused kids.
He and his wife's successful production company, Donner/Shuler-Donner Productions, has been responsible for a growing list of films, including the family hit "Free Willy" (1993) and its sequels "Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home" (1995) and "Free Willy 3: The Rescue" (1997); two predictable feature spin-offs from the HBO "Crypt" series, "Tales from the Crypt Presents Demon Knight (1995) and "Tales from the Crypt Presents: Bordello of Blood" (1996); "Maverick" (1994), a clichéd but money-making adaptation of the old TV show starring Gibson, Jodie Foster and James Garner (directed by Donner); and "Conspiracy Theory" (1997), an action-adventure fare once again directed by Donner and teaming Gibson with Julia Roberts. He went back to the well once more with “Lethal Weapon 4” (1998), reuniting Gibson and Glover, while adding sharp-tongued Chris Rock as a brash young detective in a been-there, done-that franchise that may have seen its last on screen despite taking $140 million at the box office.
Though Donner and his wife inked an exclusive first-look deal with NBC in 2000, he was fairly inactive as a filmmaker for the next five years. He served as executive producer on “Any Given Sunday” (1999) and “X-Men” (2000) before stepping behind the camera again for “Timeline” (2003), a dismal adaptation of Michael Chrichton’s time travel novel about a group of Yale students who are mysteriously transported to the 14th century after their professor suddenly goes missing while studying a medieval site. “Timeline” faired poorly at the box office, taking in a fraction of its estimated budget. To make matters worse, the film took a drubbing from critics, many of whom accused Donner of making a pedestrian movie. After he was executive producer on the flawed supernatural thriller, “Constantine” (2005), Donner returned with “16 Blocks” (2006), a B-level thriller about a drunk cop (Bruce Willis) escorting a criminal (Mos Def) to a grand jury hearing only to run into a group of bad cops who try to stop the testimony. “16 Blocks” faired better than his previous effort—both critically and at the box office—but Donner’s old form remained elusive.