Summary
- The Naked Gun reboot is still in development and is being worked on by writer Akiva Schaffer and his team.
- Liam Neeson, who will lead the project, is excited to try something different and compares the reboot to the comedic style of Airplane.
- Despite his involvement in The Naked Gun, Neeson has no plans to slow down in the action/thriller genre and has several other projects in the pipeline.
Seth MacFarlane has finally shared his own update on the upcoming reboot of The Naked Gun. Previously, Taken star Liam Neeson revealed he is looking forward to fumbling around with a gun rather than expertly taking down bad guys in the new reboot/sequel, and suggested that filming will get underway this year. In an extensive interview with The Wrap, MacFarlane gave his short response to a question about the status of the movie. He revealed:
It’s being worked on as we speak. Akiva Schaffer, who’s written the draft with his team, has done a hell of a job, and it is in development. So, it is still very much alive.
Previously, most of the updates about the movie have come via Neeson, who seems more than ready to take over the franchise from the late Leslie Nielson. Speaking with IndieWire, Neeson compared the reboot to the likes of Airplane (which is of course from the same creative team as the original Naked Gun), and revealed how eager he is to try something different.
“I’m going to do it this year. 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. They were all a series of gags. Do you remember “Airplane”?”
Neeson even went on to compare himself with Airplane star Leslie Nielson, whose career completely transformed following his expert deadpan delivery and comic timing. Leading to such classics as The Naked Gun.
“That was a series of gags, too. Peter Graves says to the kid, “You ever seen a grown man naked?” The stuff! You couldn’t get away with that s--t now. Leslie Nielsen, his whole career changed when he comes into the cockpit on “Airplane.” Peter Graves is piloting the plane and Leslie comes in and gives him some information. Graves says, “Yeah, but surely, we’ve looked at that” or something. And Leslie Nielsen comes back in again and goes, “Don’t call me Shirley.” That was the moment, I’m telling you, that changed his life, his career.”
Beginning first as the short-lived series Police Squad! in 1982, The Naked Gun went on to spawn a trilogy of movies with Leslie Nielson’s "detective with a heart of gold and a brain of wood,” Frank Drebin at their center. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! was released in 1988 and led to two sequels in The Naked Gun 2+1⁄2: The Smell of Fear in 1991 and Naked Gun 33+1⁄3: The Final Insult in 1994. The trilogy remains a cherished comedy saga among fans, with many wondering if a reboot could ever live up to the legacy.
Liam Neeson is Eager to Get Started on The Naked Gun Reboot
Rumors of Liam Neeson joining The Naked Gun reboot began to take hold in 2021, and while we now know that the Taken star will indeed lead the project, further details (such as whether Neeson will play the son of Frank Drebin) remain a mystery. Whatever happens, Neeson is clearly eager to get started on The Naked Gun reboot and do something different.
Outside The Naked Gun reboot, Neeson has plenty in the pipeline. Despite threatening several times over the years to retire from the action genre that has largely dominated his later career, Neeson finds himself neck-deep in thrillers. Neeson will lead Retribution, the upcoming remake of the Speed-like 2015 Spanish film El desconocido; In the Land of Saints and Sinners, which finds the actor playing a retired assassin, and Thug, in which Neeson stars as a brooding aging gangster. And this is without even mentioning The Riker's Ghost, Charlie Johnson in the Flames, and Cold Storage. So, while Neeson is looking forward to doing something different with The Naked Gun reboot, he has no intention of slowing down in the action/thriller department.