Mads Mikkelsen in talks for The Naked Gun villain role?

Last Updated on November 29, 2023

Liam Neeson’s Frank Drebin may have found his foil in the upcoming reboot of The Naked Gun, as reports have come out that former Bond villain Mads Mikkelsen may be close to signing on.

As reported by Daniel Richtman, “Mads Mikkelsen is in talks to play the villain Cane.” While no details have come out about Cane and Mikkelsen has not officially inked a deal for the upcoming Naked Gun installment, I would personally love to see him take on the role.

If confirmed, Mads Mikkelsen will join Ricardo Montalbán’s Victor Ludwig from the first Naked Gun, Robert Goulet’s Quentin Hapsburg from The Smell of Fear and Fred Ward’s Rocco Dillon from The Final Insult. Considering that lineup, we would absolutely welcome Mads Mikkelsen to the list of heels trying to outsmart (well…) Frank Drebin. And hey, let’s keep tradition and get “Weird Al” Yankovic to show up for a fourth cameo! (We can probably leave O.J. Simpson out this time, though…) Liam Neeson and Mads Mikkelsen previously shared credits on the 2010 remake of Clash of the Titans – we expect far better things from The Naked Gun.

A Naked Gun reboot has been on and off the table for well over a decade, going back to original Frank Drebin Leslie Nielsen being tied to a direct-to-video sequel. Now that the likes of Ed Helms and Seth McFarlane are out of starring and writing/directing duties, respectively, we have Akiva Schaffer (who showed expertise in the spoof genre with Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping) in the director chair and Dan Gregor and Doug Mand contributing to the script.

In early stages of this current iteration of the upcoming Naked Gun revival, Neeson said, “It’ll either be the end of my so-called career or it’ll be another little avenue. We’re going to reboot the Naked Gun franchise. We’ll see. The script is being developed. It’s still very funny. There’s very funny stuff in it.”

How do you think Mads Mikkelsen would do as the primary villain in the upcoming Naked Gun reboot? Could he prove to be the perfect counterpart to Liam Neeson’s Frank Drebin?