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The original director of The Naked Gun, David Zucker, has renewed his verbal assault concerning the recent reboot featuring Liam Neeson, following a short period where he seemed to adopt a more conciliatory tone in the aftermath of the film's cinema debut.

Zucker's Critique of the Reboot's Comedy Approach

In a recent interview, Zucker stated that Seth MacFarlane, the creative force behind the new Naked Gun and previously the director and co-writer of the Ted movies, "totally missed" the spoof-comedy style that Zucker, along with his collaborators Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams, made famous in Airplane! and the three original Naked Gun films.

"My brother, Jerry, and our partner, Jim Abrahams, started doing spoof comedies five decades in the past, and we originated our own style – and we did that so well that it appears simple, evidently. Others began imitating it, like the new film's producer for the new Naked Gun. He completely misunderstood it."

He added: "It can look like we're just throwing stuff up against the wall to see what sticks, but we're not. There's thought behind it."

The Irreplaceable Star

The director further stated that it was futile to produce the film without Leslie Nielsen, who played Frank Drebin and who died in 2010, saying: "They tried to replace Leslie Nielsen in the new Naked Gun, and he cannot be replaced. Nobody else is capable of that."

Previous Reservations and Shifting Tone

The filmmaker had earlier expressed opposition to the decision to proceed with a Naked Gun reboot, saying in 2024 that he was "not excited about having the franchise given to other people". Adding: "They have not contacted me to appear briefly or be involved in the writing. Whether or not they're going to succeed with it, this kind of spoof, I mean it's not rocket science, but it is challenging."

However, after a series of favorable critiques and impressive financial performance following its launch in August, Zucker adopted a more agreeable stance, commenting: "I'm excited about it because it just demonstrates there's a healthy audience for comedy in movie theatres, and parody specifically."

Renewed Disapproval Over Budget Concerns

However, Zucker resumed his criticism in the recent discussion, criticising the amount of money involved. "Large financial outlays and humor are incompatible, and in the recent reboot, you could see that they invested heavily on scenes full of technical pizzazz while trying to copy our style."

He added: "Financial motives drive everyone currently, and that seems to be the sole motivation why they wanted to do a new Naked Gun."