David Zucker, the director behind the first two Naked Gun films and one of the architects of the spoof-comedy genre, has voiced strong disapproval of the Liam Neeson-led reboot. Speaking to Woman’s World, Zucker said the new film, produced by Seth MacFarlane and directed by Akiva Schaffer, attempts to mirror the classic parody style he developed with Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams but ultimately “missed completely”.
Zucker reflected on the trio’s long legacy in comedy. “We started making spoof movies half a century ago, and we created a style that people think is easy to duplicate,” he said. “Seth MacFarlane tried to copy it for this new Naked Gun, and he totally missed it.”
The reboot centres on Neeson as Frank Drebin Jr, the son of Leslie Nielsen’s iconic, deadpan detective. But for Zucker, that premise alone was a red flag. “They tried to replace Leslie Nielsen in the new Naked Gun, and you can’t replace him,” he said. “No one else can do what he did.”
Beyond the performances, Zucker also criticised the film’s scale and spending. The new instalment reportedly cost around $42 million — roughly the inflation-adjusted equivalent of the 1988 original’s $15 million budget, but still, in his view, far too lavish for the genre. “You shouldn’t pour money into comedies,” Zucker noted. “One of our core rules was avoiding technical pizzazz. Big budgets and comedy don’t mix. In the new Naked Gun, you can see they spent a lot on flashy scenes while trying to imitate our style.”
He didn’t mince words about Hollywood’s motivations either. “Everybody’s in it for the money now,” he said. “That feels like the only reason they wanted to make a new Naked Gun.”
The filmmaker, who previously expressed disappointment that he and other original team members weren’t asked to participate in the reboot, maintains his affection for the franchise he helped create—even if he believes the latest version strays far from its roots.
