Original Naked Gun creator's swipe at reboot and star Liam Neeson: ‘Not a fresh idea'
The director and co-writer of the original The Naked Gun film has taken a brutal swipe at the reboot and its star, Liam Neeson.
David Zucker, along with his brother Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams, created the 1988 spoof comedy as well as the TV show that spawned it, Police Squad, but was not invited to join the team behind the new instalment.
Instead, its co-written and directed by Saturday Night Live's Akiva Schaffer and produced by Family Guy's Seth Macfarlane.
'I don't plan on seeing it because, why would I?,' Zucker, 77, told the Daily Mail recently.
'I wrote a whole script for Naked Gun 4 on spec for Paramount. I understand the studio's thinking to go with Seth Macfarlane. He's a proven commodity and Liam Neeson is a big star, but it's not a fresh idea.'
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Neeson has stepped into the lead role of the new reboot. Picture: Paramount
Nielsen was the original Detective Frank Drebin. Picture: Paramount
Zucker also claimed that Neeson was not the right fit for the beloved franchise he created.
'OJ [Simpson] … he didn't need to be funny,' he said. 'And even Leslie Nielsen doesn't need to be funny. He just had to be a B-movie actor.
'That's what we did … We didn't pretend to cast Laurence Olivier or even Al Pacino. But Liam Neeson, for example, he's like Oscar quality. I think he may have won for Schindler's List. So I mean, what's he making fun of?'
According to Zucker, despite being shut out of the production, Macfarlane had eventually called him up personally.
'I had a conversation with Seth and he spent 10 minutes just telling me how he idolised Naked Gun, Airplane, Top Secret,' he said.
'How can you be mad at anybody who tells you how great you are? But it's not enough to be a fan … The guy at my dry cleaners is a big fan, but it doesn't mean he can do Naked Gun.'
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The new film in the beloved franchise sees Detective Frank Drebin's son, the equally bumbling Detective Frank Drebin Jr. (Neeson) caught up in a murder case, part of a broader sinister plot for mass destruction, which he must solve in order to prevent the police department from shutting down.
Pamela Anderson co-stars as his love interest and investigative partner, Beth Davenport.
Anderson co-stars as Beth Davenport. Picture: Paramount
Just like those in the original franchise, the latest Naked Gun movie leans in to the most bonkers humour – and even co-writer Doug Mand admitted to news.com.au that he was shocked they got most of the jokes over the line.
'I can't believe this movie got made,' he revealed at the UK premiere.
'You dream about writing something that's silly and fun and joyful and they're not making a lot of movies like this anymore. Every joke that's on screen [in The Naked Gun], I can't believe they shot it, and I can't believe they spent money on shooting it.'
Zucker had a brutal verdict on the latest Naked Gun film. Picture: Geoff Ward.
Neeson revealed to news.com.au that he'd needed to be 'convinced' to go through with some of the movie's more 'outrageous' scenes.
'There were a couple of apprehensions, mainly to do with the script,' the Taken actor, 73, said.
'There were certain scenes that were too outrageous.'
After voicing his concerns, however, he was eventually thoroughly 'convinced they would work' by the production team.
The Naked Gun certainly shows off a whole new side of the actor, who's known for his intimidating and stoic on-screen presence.
But his latest role is actually more aligned with his sense of humour, as Anderson, 58, told news.com.au, joking that he was inherently 'a silly little boy'.
'He's very funny. I think with most people, there are so many sides to them, and that's what makes them interesting.'
She added: 'Playing it straight was very important to make this film work – we had to make sure we weren't trying to be funny. That we were in the relationship, and in the situation, and then the comedy came from the circumstances.'
The Naked Gun is in cinemas from August 21.
Originally published as Original Naked Gun creator's swipe at reboot and star Liam Neeson
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