When it was announced that Liam Neeson would be playing the lead in a reboot of The Naked Gun, the sound of people collectively going “Whaaaa??” was heard across every precinct. Liam Neeson? The guy who reinvented his career by pretty much only taking on action movies when he was in his mid-50s? Heck, even Neeson himself was a little nervous about whether he could handle such rapid-fire comedy. Now, original Naked Gun director and co-creator David Zucker is weighing in, casting his own skepticism on the project.
Speaking with TMZ, David Zucker said of the upcoming Naked Gun entry – the first in three decades – “We were not excited about having the franchise given to other people. At the time, I couldn’t believe it because we thought we had a great script, and they loved the script from what we heard. I don’t have any control over it. I’m not involved, and they haven’t asked me for my help…It’s completely their concept, and they’re just going to go ahead and do it.” Adding to this, he noted that he has zero involvement whatsoever. “Paramount is just going ahead and doing it. They haven’t involved me. I just don’t have any thoughts on it. They’re just gonna do what they want, that’s Hollywood…They have not contacted me to make a cameo or be involved with the writing.”
The spoof genre is a tough one to pull off, which is why there are so many awful spoof movies out there. Even the team of ZAZ – David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker – has made their clunkers. But their best works are top-notch representations of the genre. As Zucker added of The Naked Gun, “Whether or not they’re gonna do a job with it…This kind of spoof – I mean, it’s not rocket science but it’s not easy.” He, too, doesn’t see a need for the movie because he feels younger generations are already discovering the works of ZAZ such as The Naked Gun and Airplane!
The Naked Gun spawned from the too-short-lived Police Squad! (just six brilliant episodes), itself the project that the Zuckers and Abrahams focused on instead of Airplane II. That was a good call to say the least, but will this reboot be? We’ll have to wait and see if Liam Neeson can pull off the task when it hits theaters on July 11th, 2025.
Are you looking forward to this reboot of The Naked Gun or should it have been left with the legacy of Leslie Nielsen? Share your thoughts below.