Original ‘Naked Gun’ Creator Slams Liam Neeson-Starring Reboot

Everything old is new again! That’s the Hollywood way. Though a more accurate saying may be, “We want to keep making money without creating anything new!” Properties that lost their juice long ago are dusted off and “reinvented” again and again. There are, occasionally, good movies that come out of this trend. But, more often than not, you’re left thinking, “I’d rather be watching the original.” With that in mind, you’d think people would welcome input from the original creators when mounting reboots of their projects. I’m sure that is true at times, but not in the case of the new Naked Gun.

The first Naked Gun premiered in 1988, spinning off from the parody TV show Police Squad!. It starred Leslie Nielsen as Lieutenant Frank Drebin, a hyper-serious police officer surrounded by a world of mad-cap gags, puns, and football star and Hertz spokesman O.J. Simpson, decades before his ill-advised prank show and just a few years prior to murdering his wife. But, the legacy of Naked Gun extends beyond a man most known for Uxoricide. The films gave Leslie Nielsen’s career a second-life by parodying the hard-boiled cops shows of the time, something the creator thinks won’t be viable again.

David Zucker of the Zucker Brothers created both Police Squad! and the Naked Gun series with his brother Jerry and writer Jim Abrahams. While he would eventually make Scary Movie 3-5, his parody bona fides speak for themselves. David, Jim and Jerry were behind such films as Airplane! and Top Secret!. As well as High School High, Superhero Movie and An American Carol (comedy is hard, especially when your comedic leads are Robert Davi and Jon Voight). Regardless of his later failings, Zucker knows what he’s talking about, and the folks behind the new Naked Gun reboot did not feel like listening to him.

The filmmaker recently revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that he wanted to help with the new version of his old film but was rejected. “I read the script, and I politely told them I wasn’t going to put my name on it,” he explained about being offered a Producer credit. “They wanted nothing from me except my name. They assume I’m old and using a walker and I can’t do it anymore. I guess talent leaves after age 40 in Hollywood.” He claimed no one really reached out to him about collaborating, and that he had already pitched a Naked Gun reboot/sequel called Naked: Impossible, which would have starred a 30-something Andy Samberg type. “We didn’t even want to do it in a police station,” Zucker claimed. “They don’t make cop movies anymore. When you do parody, you’ve got to spoof something current.”

While I can understand the new creators (Director Akiva Schaffer and Producer Seth MacFarlane) may want to put their own stamp on things, Zucker’s logic is sound (and could be part of the reason they didn’t want his input). I think the Naked Gun trailer looked funny, but they aren’t parodying anything new or current. If anything, it may end up being closer to a parody of parodies (which doesn’t really work) or of Liam Neeson’s standing in Hollywood (territory that is hardly undiscovered). It may have been better suited a decade ago (and almost was). Still, I’ll be watching it, even if David Zucker (rightfully) won’t.