The filmmaker behind the classic of The Naked Gun, David Zucker, has renewed his verbal assault concerning the newly released revival featuring Liam Neeson, following a short period where he seemed to adopt a more conciliatory tone following the premiere of the film's theatrical release.
During a fresh discussion, Zucker expressed that Seth MacFarlane, the creative force behind the new Naked Gun and formerly the filmmaker and script collaborator of the Ted movies, "completely failed to grasp" the spoof-comedy style that Zucker, along with his partners Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams, popularized in Airplane! and the initial trilogy of Naked Gun films.
"Jerry, my sibling, and Jim Abrahams, our associate, started doing spoof comedies 50 years ago, and we developed a unique approach – and we executed it so effectively that it appears simple, clearly. People started copying it, like the new film's producer for the recent reboot. He completely misunderstood it."
Zucker continued: "It can look like we're just throwing stuff up against the wall to see what sticks, but we're not. Consideration is involved."
Zucker added that it was pointless to make the movie without Leslie Nielsen, who played Frank Drebin and who died in 2010, saying: "They attempted to substitute Leslie Nielsen in the recent revival, and he cannot be replaced. No one else can do that."
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 different individuals". Adding: "They have not contacted me to make a cameo or participate in scripting. Whether or not they're going to succeed with it, this kind of spoof, I mean it's not rocket science, but it's not easy."
However, after a series of favorable critiques and impressive financial performance after its release in August, Zucker adopted a more agreeable stance, commenting: "I'm excited about it because it just demonstrates there's a strong market for comedy in movie theatres, and spoof in particular."
Yet, Zucker resumed his criticism in the new interview, questioning the financial investment. "Big budgets and comedy are opposites, and in the recent reboot, you could see that they spent a lot of money on scenes full of technical pizzazz while trying to copy our style."
He added: "Everybody's in it for the money now, and that feels like the only reason why they wanted to do a new Naked Gun."
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