David Zucker renews his attack on new Naked Gun reboot starring Liam Neeson | film

The director of the original Naked Gun film, David Zucker, is back on the attack over the latest reboot starring Liam Neeson, after appearing to soften his tone in the wake of its release.

In an interview with Woman’s World, Zucker said that Seth MacFarlane, the producer of the new Naked Gun film and former director and co-writer of the Ted films, “totally missed” the style of satirical comedy that Zucker, along with collaborators Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams, made famous in Airplane! and the original three Naked Gun films.

“My brother Jerry and our partner Jim Abrahams started doing satirical comedies 50 years ago, and we created our own style — and we did it so well that it looks easy, obviously. People started copying it, like… [producer] Seth MacFarlane for the new movie Naked Gun. “He totally missed it.”

He added: “It may seem like we are throwing things at the wall to see what sticks, but we are not. There is an idea behind it.”

Zucker added that there was no point in making the film without Leslie Nielsen, who played Frank Drebin, who died in 2010. “They tried to replace Leslie Nielsen in the new Naked Gun movie, and you can’t replace him. No one can do that,” Zucker added.

Zucker had previously objected to plans to go ahead with a Naked Gun reboot, saying in 2024 that he was “not keen on giving the franchise to other people.” Adding, “They didn’t call me to make an appearance or co-write. Whether they’re going to do a good job or not, this kind of parody, I mean it’s not rocket science, but it’s not easy.”

However, after a string of positive reviews and strong box office returns following its release in August, Zucker took a more conciliatory tone, saying: “I’m excited about the film because it just shows that there’s a strong market for comedy in cinemas, and parodies in particular.”

However, Zucker went back on the attack in the new interview, criticizing the amount of money spent. “Big budgets and comedy are two opposites, and in the new Naked Gun movie, you can see they spent a lot of money on artistic action scenes while trying to imitate our style.”

He added: “Everyone is interested in money now, and that seems to be the only reason they want to make a new Naked Gun movie.”