{"id":2160312,"date":"2025-11-16T17:41:27","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T17:41:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2160312"},"modified":"2025-11-16T17:41:27","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T17:41:27","slug":"original-naked-gun-director-slams-liam-neeson-pamela-anderson-reboot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/original-naked-gun-director-slams-liam-neeson-pamela-anderson-reboot\/","title":{"rendered":"Original \u2018Naked Gun\u2019 director slams Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson reboot"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2025%2F11%2F115543510.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>David Zucker, director and co-writer of the first two \u201cThe Naked Gun\u201d films, does not approve of the 2025 reboot.<\/p>\n<p>In a new interview with <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.womansworld.com\/entertainment\/movies\/what-naked-gun-creator-david-zucker-really-thinks-about-the-reboot-exclusive\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Woman\u2019s World<\/a>, the 78-year-old filmmaker bashed the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/07\/30\/entertainment\/the-naked-gun-review-liam-neeson-pamela-anderson-comedy-is-the-biggest-surprise-of-the-year\/\">latest iteration<\/a> of the crime comedy franchise that was directed by Akiva Shaffer and produced by Seth MacFarlane, with <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/08\/07\/entertainment\/pamela-anderson-liam-neeson-had-immediate-chemistry-on-naked-gun-set\/\">Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson<\/a> in the lead roles.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption> Leslie Nielsen, director David Zucker on the set of \u201cThe Naked Gun 2\u201d in 1991. <span class=\"credit\">\u00a9Paramount\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Pamela Anderson, Liam Neeson in \u201cThe Naked Gun\u201d (2025). <span class=\"credit\">\u00a9Paramount\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cMy brother, Jerry, and our partner, Jim Abrahams, started doing spoof comedies 50 years ago, and we originated our own style\u2014and we did that so well that it looks easy, evidently,\u201d Zucker stated. \u201cPeople started copying it, like Seth MacFarlane for the new\u00a0\u2018Naked Gun.\u2019 He totally missed it.\u201d <\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Seth MacFarlane produced the new \u201cThe Naked Gun\u201d film. <span class=\"credit\">Invision<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Zucker also took issue with the new film\u2019s $42 million budget, compared to his \u201cNaked Gun\u201d movies that cost $14 million and $23 million, respectively, to make.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou shouldn\u2019t spend too much money on comedies, and one of our rules is about technical pizzazz,\u201d he shared. \u201cBig budgets and comedy are opposites, and in the new\u00a0\u2018Naked Gun,\u2019 you could see that they spent a lot of money on scenes full of technical pizzazz while trying to copy our style.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEverybody\u2019s in it for the money now,\u201d Zucker added, \u201cand that feels like the only reason why they wanted to do a new\u00a0\u2018Naked Gun.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Paul Walter Hauser, Liam Neeson in \u201cThe Naked Gun.\u201d <span class=\"credit\">\u00a9Paramount\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The director acknowledged that \u201ccomedy changes, and I wouldn\u2019t do the same thing anymore,\u201d noting that if he made his own \u201cThe Naked Gun\u201d reboot, it would be more of a parody of \u201cMission: Impossible\u201d and \u201cJames Bond\u201d than the original movies from the franchise.<\/p>\n<p>Elsewhere in the interview, Zucker explained that \u201cthere\u2019s a certain method to the madness\u201d\u00a0in how he and his producing partners make their projects.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe had our 15 rules, and I\u2019m teaching them in the hopes that if anybody tries to do a movie like this again, they\u2019ll do it right,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Pointer in \u201cThe Naked Gun\u201d (1988). <span class=\"credit\">\u00a9Paramount\/Courtesy Everett Coll<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Leslie Nielsen, director David Zucker on the set of \u201cThe Naked Gun 2.\u201d <span class=\"credit\">\u00a9Paramount\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The first three \u201cNaked Gun\u201d films starred Leslie Nielsen as woeful cop Frank Drebi.<\/p>\n<p>In the reboot, Neeson, 73, plays Frank\u2019s son, Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. The film also stars Anderson, 58, as Frank Jr.\u2019s love interest, Beth.<\/p>\n<p>Zucker <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/08\/01\/entertainment\/original-naked-gun-creator-rips-reboot-and-star-liam-neeson-its-not-a-fresh-idea\/\">previously criticized the reboot <\/a>around the time that it hit theaters in August. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t plan on seeing it because, why would I?,\u201d he\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/tvshowbiz\/article-14959687\/naked-gun-director-david-zucker-liam-neeson-pamela-anderson.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">told the Daily Mail<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Pamela Anderson and director Akiva Schaffer on the set of \u201cThe Naked Gun.\u201d <span class=\"credit\">\u00a9Paramount\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson in \u201cThe Naked Gun.\u201d <span class=\"credit\">\u00a9Paramount\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI wrote a whole script for \u2018Naked Gun 4\u2019 on spec for Paramount,\u201d Zucker continued. \u201cI understand the studio\u2019s thinking to go with Seth MacFarlane. He\u2019s a proven commodity and Liam Neeson is a big star, but it\u2019s not a fresh idea.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>David Zucker on the set of \u201cThe Naked Gun 2\u201d in 1991. <span class=\"credit\">\u00a9Paramount\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Despite Zucker\u2019s comments, critics were on board with the reboot.<\/p>\n<p>The Post\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/07\/30\/entertainment\/the-naked-gun-review-liam-neeson-pamela-anderson-comedy-is-the-biggest-surprise-of-the-year\/\">awarded the comedy four stars<\/a>, calling it \u201cthe funniest movie to hit theaters in a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, the flick <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rottentomatoes.com\/m\/the_naked_gun_2025\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">has a 88% critic score<\/a>\u00a0on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 73% rating from audiences.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source celebrity.land \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>David Zucker, director and co-writer of the first two \u201cThe Naked Gun\u201d films, does not approve of the 2025 reboot. In a new interview with Woman\u2019s World, the 78-year-old filmmaker bashed the latest iteration of the crime comedy franchise that was directed by Akiva Shaffer and produced by Seth MacFarlane, with Liam Neeson and Pamela [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2160313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25174],"tags":[22556,21741,21993,334585,21912,33291,374417],"class_list":["post-2160312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gossip","tag-directors","tag-entertainment","tag-films","tag-liam-neeson","tag-movies","tag-pamela-anderson","tag-remakes"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Original-\u2018Naked-Gun-director-slams-Liam-Neeson-Pamela-Anderson-reboot.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2160312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2160312"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2160312\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2160314,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2160312\/revisions\/2160314"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2160313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2160312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2160312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2160312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}