The Naked Gun reboot moves forward with Liam Neeson in talks to star

Stepping into the exceedingly dry shoes of Leslie Nielsen is no small matter, but Liam Neeson is going to give it a shot with a new Naked Gun reboot. Hollywood has been attempting to reboot the franchise for a number of years, with Ed Helms (The Office) once slated to play Detective Frank Drebin, but Deadline has reported that Paramount Pictures is officially moving forward with a new Naked Gunn reboot directed by Akiva Schaffer and that Liam Neeson is in negotiations to star.

Dan Gregor and Doug Mand, who wrote Akiva Schaffer’s Chip n Dale: Rescue Rangers movie, have also closed a deal to pen the script for The Naked Gun reboot. The previous draft was written by Mark Hentemann & Alec Sulkin. Schaffer will also executive produce the reboot, with Seth MacFarlane and Erica Huggins producing through their Fuzzy Door production banner. Plot details about the reboot are being kept under wraps at this point, but it’s rumoured that Liam Neeson may be playing the son of Frank Derbin, the character played by Leslie Nielsen in the original Naked Gun movies. Nielsen’s deadpan brilliance would be hard to emulate, so I hope they don’t try to make Neeson do the same thing. The guy can be funny, no doubt about that, but his type of comedy isn’t the same as Nielsen’s. But with Akiva Schaffer at the helm, perhaps this reboot has the chance of surprising us.

Liam Neeson first addressed the possibility of starring in a Naked Gun reboot nearly two years ago, saying that he had “been approached by Seth MacFarlane and Paramount Studios to maybe resurrect the Naked Gun films,” which he joked would “either finish my career or bring it in another direction. I honestly don’t know.” The original franchise began life as Police Squad!, an exceptionally short-lived TV series that was cancelled after just six episodes. A few years later, the franchise moved to the big screen with The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! and was followed by two sequels, The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear and Naked Gun 33 ⅓: The Final Insult

Would you like to see a reboot of The Naked Gun with Liam Neeson?