Created by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker, the TV series Police Squad! only ran for six episodes back in 1982, but it spawned a popular film franchise that so far consists of three films: The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, The Naked Gun 21⁄2: The Smell of Fear, and Naked Gun 331⁄3: The Final Insult, all three of which had Pat Proft on board as a screenwriter. When it was announced that a straight-to-video sequel called The Naked Gun 4: Rhythm of Evil was moving ahead in 2009 with none of the original creative team involved, that original creative team didn’t react well. That movie didn’t make it into production, but now that a reboot of The Naked Gun is moving forward at Paramount with Akiva Schaffer set to direct the film from a screenplay by Dan Gregor, Doug Mand, Mark Hentemann, Alec Sulkin, and producer Seth MacFarlane, Zucker and Proft are again upset… especially Proft.
Zucker and Proft spoke with The Hollywood Reporter to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the first The Naked Gun, and the reboot came up during their conversation. When asked if there was ever a possibility they would be involved, Zucker and Proft answered,
Zucker: Pat, Mike and I wrote a script for Naked Gun 4, and we heard Jon Gonda at Paramount had read the script and laughed all the way through it. But somewhere along the line, they decided not to go with Pat and Mike and me. So that’s when they got Seth MacFarlane, and he has Akiva Schaffer directing Liam Neeson. I was never able to meet with Seth.
Proft: I’m not happy — and there’s a story with it. But I’m not pleased. It may come out and may be great — and good for that — but I sure as f*ck should be writing it. I should have done this one.
Zucker: About four years ago, Pat and I had one meeting over at Paramount with the then-head of production there. It was a woman who complained about some joke that Pat and I wrote about a police officer having to adjust her Kevlar vest or have a breast reduction or something. It’s just a stupid, mild joke, but that was too much for them. So I can’t even imagine how they’re limiting whoever does Naked Gun 4, if they’re that frightened. We’re not involved, and we’ve repurposed what was going to be Naked Gun 4 — as we called it, Counterintelijence, spelled with one L and a J — and we’re going to go out with that one.
Proft: We’ve been totally blocked out of it. The unfortunate part of it is that Paramount owns it, so they can do what they f*cking want. So that’s it.
Zucker went on to confirm that he has met Akiva Schaffer and found him to be a great guy, but he has never gotten a look at the script for the Naked Gun reboot.
If The Naked Gun 4: Rhythm of Evil had been made, franchise star Leslie Nielsen was set to reprise the role of bumbling hero Frank Drebin. Sadly, Nielsen passed away in 2010. Three years later, it was announced that Ed Helms would be starring a reboot written by Thomas Lennon and R. Ben Garant. That version of the reboot would have been set in the world of the previous three films, and Helms would have been played a character named Frank Drebin who would have to specify that he had “no relation” to the previous Drebin. Zucker and Proft came on board to do a rewrite in 2017 that turned the new Frank Drebin into the son of Nielsen’s character – and apparently they’re going to be pitching that script as an original called Counterintelijence now, presumably with any Frank Drebin references removed.
MacFarlane board the Naked Gun reboot in 2021, and Liam Neeson has signed on to star in the film, possibly as Frank Drebin Jr. We’ve heard Mads Mikkelsen might play the villain.
What do you think about the Naked Gun reboot? Are you upset that the creators are being blocked from having any creative input? Let us know by leaving a comment below.