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Akiva Schaffer's reboot of The Naked Gun is now the talk of the town, and the director credits all of it to his allegiance towards keeping things different. In rebooting the cult classic, Schaffer wasn’t trying to channel Leslie Nielsen’s deadpan magic. Instead, he went full chaos and cast Liam Neeson, the man who’s usually too busy hunting kidnappers, and made it into a masterpiece.
Talking about his approach to the film, Schaffer told The Hollywood Reporter,
"Well, Liam had already been attached for quite some time. I remember reading about it at some point and being a little jealous. I was like, “Ooh, that’s a good idea.” So when I got the incoming call, the Liam part of it definitely piqued my interest. But if it was just, “Hey, what’s your take on a new Naked Gun?” I would’ve been like, “Of course not. The first Naked Gun is so good, and there’s no room to make it better. You can only do different.” But the Liam part was like, “Ooh, I see my version of it at least,” which is now what’s in theaters."
With Schaffer, The Naked Gun is a tribute with attitude. It’s not Nielsen 2.0; it’s Liam Neeson, as himself, bumbling through chaos with all the earnestness of an assassin playing detective. The result? An affectionate reboot that honors what came before and proves that the best way to revive a cult comedy is to reinvent it.
More details about The Naked Gun
The Naked Gun brings a fresh spin to the slapstick legacy, with director Akiva Schaffer stepping in to revive one of comedy’s most absurd franchises. Co-written by Schaffer, Dan Gregor, and Doug Mand, the film marks a return to the chaotic world of Police Squad! only this time, it’s Lt. Frank Drebin Jr., played by Liam Neeson, fumbling his way through justice, following in his father’s famously clumsy footsteps.
The film had a bumpy road to the screen, with a shelved reboot and casting shakeups before Seth MacFarlane took the reins as producer. Schaffer replaced MacFarlane as director in 2022, and with Neeson officially onboard, the project finally found its footing.
Talking about an earlier iteration of the film, Schaffer stated in the same interview,
They had an existing script, but I don’t think they were trying to make that version of it. I read that script, and no offense to it, but it was not the version I would want to make. So the meeting was more of a meeting where I went, “Hey, if this is going to be me, I’m super excited, but I would start from scratch. This is my version of the movie …” I then laid out, not the story or anything, but the styles of jokes and how I would want it to feel, look and sound.
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Apart from Neeson, the film also stars Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, Kevin Durand, and Danny Huston, all tangled up in a plot to save the Police Squad from being shut down forever.
The Naked Gun is now in theaters.
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