Liam Neeson will go all out flexing his comedic chops as he becomes Lt. Frank Drebin in The Naked Gun reboot, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Paramount recently announced the release dates of their upcoming films. One of those was Akiva Schaffer’s newest Naked Gun installment which is set to hit cinemas on July 28, 2025.
Neeson taking on Nielsen
The movie was first announced in 2022, with Neeson taking the role Leslie Nielsen originated and Seth MacFarlane serving as the producer. Dan Gregor and Doug Man wrote the script. Both Gregor and Man wrote the Emmy-winning Disney+ 2022 movie Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers, which Schaffer directed.
The new Naked Guin film is based on the film franchise which released its first movie in 1988 (The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!) and on the 1980s TV series Police Squad! The show as created by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker.
MacFarlane told THR during promotions for his Peacock show Ted that the reboot had picked up momentum.
“Akiva Schaffer and his team have written a script. In fact, I had a meeting about it [in December]. As far as the exact timing of it as when it might be released, I can’t get specific at this point, but it is very much alive and moving forward,” he said.
A new age for The Naked Gun
David Zucker, director of the first Naked Gun film, also told THR last year in celebration of the movie’s 35th anniversary, that he and co-writer Pat Proft had written a script for a fourth installment. The 1988 movie was followed by two sequels, 1991’s The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear and 1994’s The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult.
Poft said that he and Zucker have been “totally blocked” out of the reboot.
“It may come out and may be great — and good for that — but I sure as f**k should be writing it,” he said.
While it may be disappointing that the original creators aren’t involved in the reboot, it is exciting to see Neeson take on a comedic role. I wonder if this also spells the end of the Taken franchise.
Neeson breathed new life into the what is now a trope of the older gentleman assassin using his well-honed, but mostly abandoned skills for one last job. In this case, that last job turned into three movies. The first was released in 2008 and the third one in 2014.
I also wonder if his Lt. Drebin will poke fun at Bryan Mills. With MacFarlane as producer, it seems like something he would definitely do. On his animated show, The Family Guy, there’s a gag of Kermit the Frog doing Neeson famous speech from Taken. And with Schaffer as director, who wrote Andy Samberg’s The Lonely Island skits, it seems like a sure thing.