Despite most people who grew up in the ’80s and ’90s associating actor Leslie NielsenOpens in a new tab with over-the-top zany comedies, the reason that was funny in the first place is because he had traditionally been a serious actor. In movies like Forbidden Planet, The Poseidon Adventure, and Day of the Animals, Nielsen was the stalwart leading man or stoic supporting character. That’s why his inclusion in Airplane! along with similar actors worked so well. That was parlayed into the lead role in the series Police Squad! and later the feature film adaptation, The Naked Gun.
It’s in that same vein that the makers of the rebootquel of The Naked Gun chose for their version of Lt. Frank Drebin another actor of steely action and drama chops. Liam Neeson, Mr. Taken himself, will play the son of Nielsen’s Frank Drebin Sr. in the new film, with a suitably ridiculous teaser trailer you can watch below.
The movie has a good pedigree behind it. Seth MacFarlane and Akiva Schaffer produced while Schaffer also directs and co-writes the script along with Dan Gregor and Doug Mand. (Schaffer, Gregor, and Mand also collaborated in 2022’s Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers.)
While just a teaser, we do get a sense of the level of silliness we’ll get in the movie. The famously enormous Irishman first appears in the disguise of a tiny girl in order to foil a bank robbery. He then uses his lollipop to murder the robbers. Ah, ya gotta love it. Later, we see Neeson pay respects to his onscreen predecessor. This is followed by Paul Walter Hauser doing the same for his fictional father, Capt. Ed Hocken (George Kennedy). The respect-paying continues until we get to a picture of Det. Nordberg. That character’s child looks at the camera and says “nah,” which is very funny if you recognize the picture, or remember who played Nordberg in the earlier films.
It seems like the pieces are all in place for a proper new take on The Naked Gun. However, in the decades since the original, that variety of spoof-movie with broad humor has fallen very far out of fashion. This is not to say it won’t be funny or good. But it’s going to have to be more than Liam Neeson in a skirt and pictures of old cast members.
The Naked Gun will hit theaters August 1, 2025.
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser FocusOpens in a new tab. You can find his film and TV reviews hereOpens in a new tab. Follow him on LetterboxdOpens in a new tab.
