Naked Gun Franchise Return Addressed By Creator As He Shares Update On Original Script Before Liam Neeson Reboot

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Following Liam Neeson and Akiva Schaffer’s recent involvement with the series, David Zucker has discussed the possibility of making another Naked Gun movie.

The writer and director, along with his collaborators Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker, created the popular police comedy series featuring Leslie Nielsen as the hilariously inept Detective Frank Drebin, solving cases in a uniquely clumsy way. It started with the TV show Police Squad! and then became the Naked Gun movies, which were all commercially successful. While the first two sequels weren’t as well-received as the original 1988 film, the more recent sequel starring Liam Neeson earned positive reviews, marking it as the best installment since the very first movie.

During a recent interview with ScreenRant’s Grant Hermanns, David Zucker discussed the possibility of making another Naked Gun movie. He was promoting his upcoming appearance at the 2026 Netflix is a Joke festival, where he’ll be hosting a screening and Q&A of the original film. Zucker also mentioned his online comedy course, MasterCrash, where he teaches the 15 rules he and his collaborators, Jim and Jerry, developed over 40 years of making spoof films.

You can find my course at mastercrash.com, and it’s very affordable to start. While I do offer additional resources for purchase, the initial access provides a lot of valuable content for a minimal cost. I also actively engage with students online, answering their questions and providing support.

The filmmaker shared that the idea for this course stemmed from the Naked Gun movies. He, along with Pat Proft and Mike McManus, actually wrote a script for a fourth film, but Paramount decided not to use it. According to the filmmaker, the studio went with someone else, and the resulting movie wasn’t very good. He isn’t surprised, though, noting that Hollywood often tries to find a cheap imitation instead of original work.

Zucker admitted that the idea of an older police officer, which was original four decades ago, feels outdated now. Instead, he, Proft, and McManus planned a new Naked Gun movie set in the world of international espionage, drawing inspiration from films like The Bourne Identity, James Bond, and Mission: Impossible. The sequel would maintain the original’s comedic style but focus on the son of Frank Drebin, played by an actor in their thirties, rather than another older performer.

David Zucker believes that trying to recreate the original Naked Gun movies without Leslie Nielsen is a mistake. He feels it’s impossible to replace Nielsen, and even undesirable to try. While acknowledging Liam Neeson’s talent, Zucker thinks revisiting the same formula is a tired idea and won’t live up to the originals. However, he’s optimistic about a new project using an older script Paramount previously turned down, titled Counterintelijence (spelled with one ‘L’ and a ‘J’). He considers this script excellent and hopes to produce it in the future.

When asked about potentially revisiting the Naked Gun series – alongside his work on a revised Counterintelligence script – Zucker expressed hesitation. He said he’d only consider it if the executives who worked on the recent Neeson-starring film were removed. He finished with a laugh, adding that he’d make an effort to seem less critical when appearing at the Netflix is a Joke festival.

I’ve been following the attempts to revive The Naked Gun for years, and it’s been a long, frustrating process! For over a decade after the last movie, there were so many ideas floating around, but nothing ever seemed to stick. I remember hearing they were even planning a sequel, What 4? The Rhythm of Evil, with Leslie Nielsen back as Frank Drebin! Apparently, Paramount was really excited about it and considered a big screen release instead of just TV. Sadly, it fell apart because of money problems, then Leslie Nielsen passed away, and the filmmakers couldn’t agree on a direction. It’s a shame, but it seemed like too many things were working against it.

Before Zucker, Proft, and McManus revisited the idea with their spy-themed script, Paramount was already planning a complete reboot of Naked Gun. They wanted Ed Helms (known from The Hangover movies) to play the role of Drebin, and had hired Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant from RENO 911! to write the script. However, Zucker had several issues with this new direction, and it seems the project was eventually reworked into his Counterintelligence script before being abandoned.

Similar to what others have said, Zucker openly shared his opinions about Liam Neeson’s Naked Gun movie before and after it came out. He mostly criticized the film’s comedic style, believing the director and team prioritized profit over creativity and didn’t live up to his expectations.

Considering the first Naked Gun movie with Liam Neeson was both well-received by critics and financially successful – earning over $102 million worldwide on a $42 million budget – it’s reasonable to think Paramount might want to keep the same actors and filmmakers involved in a sequel. While writer David Zucker wasn’t sure if a new film would happen due to changes at the studio, he did say they had some ideas. Both Neeson and producer Seth MacFarlane have indicated they’d be willing to participate if a sequel were made.

There’s still hope that the original Naked Gun script, called Counterintelligence, might eventually become a movie. The filmmaker is currently working on a new noir-style film, Star of Malta, and recent successes in the spoof genre – like the Liam Neeson film, Fackham Hall starring Tom Felton, and the planned sequel to Spaceballs – suggest that Counterintelligence could still happen.

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2026-04-28 23:09