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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, after briefly appearing to adopt a more conciliatory tone in the aftermath of the film's theatrical release.

Zucker's Critique of the Reboot's Comedy Approach

In a recent interview, Zucker expressed 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 parody genre approach that Zucker, together with his collaborators Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams, popularized in Airplane! and the initial trilogy of Naked Gun films.

"My brother, Jerry, and our partner, Jim Abrahams, began creating spoof comedies 50 years ago, and we developed a unique approach – and we did that so well that it looks easy, evidently. Others began imitating it, like Seth MacFarlane for the new Naked Gun. He totally missed it."

Zucker continued: "It can look like we're just randomly trying ideas to see what sticks, but we're not. Consideration is involved."

Leslie Nielsen's Legacy

The director further stated that it was pointless to produce the film without Leslie Nielsen, who played Frank Drebin and who died in 2010, remarking: "They tried to replace Leslie Nielsen in the recent revival, and he cannot be replaced. No one else can do that."

Previous Reservations and Changing Stance

Zucker had previously objected to plans to go ahead with a Naked Gun reboot, saying in 2024 that he was "not enthusiastic regarding having the series handed over to other people". Adding: "They have not contacted me to appear briefly or participate in scripting. Whether or not they're going to succeed with it, this style of parody, I mean it's not rocket science, but it is challenging."

Nonetheless, after a string of positive reviews and impressive financial performance following its launch in August, Zucker struck a more conciliatory tone, commenting: "I am pleased by it because it just shows that there's a strong market for comedy in cinemas, and spoof in particular."

Return to Criticism Over Financial Aspects

However, Zucker resumed his criticism in the recent discussion, criticising the amount of money involved. "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 attempting to replicate our style."

He added: "Everybody's in it for the money now, and that seems to be the only reason why they wanted to do a fresh installment."