Although the TV show Police Squad was cancelled in 1982 after just six episodes, the hilarious hijinks of Leslie Nielsen’s Frank Drebin lived on with the Naked Gun film series that began six years later. Now, over 30 years after Nielsen last played the character, Liam Neeson is playing Frank Drebin Jr. in the simply-named The Naked Gun.
The 2025 movie release has earned a lot of positive critical reception and gotten off to a solid start at the box office this past weekend. Now David Zucker, the director of the original Naked Gun, has shared a supportive message in response to the comedy flick’s success. That said, he still has “no intention” to ever see the new Naked Gun, though his explanation for why doesn’t come from a place of ill will whatsoever.
David Zucker Is Glad The Comedy Is Performing Well In Theaters
The Naked Gun came in 3rd place for its opening weekend, trailing behind The Fantastic Four: First Steps coming in at #1 again and The Bad Guys 2 resting in the #2 spot. Still, a $17 million opening for a movie like this is nothing to sneeze at, especially in an age where it’s rarer for comedies to get silver screen runs. Zucker pointed that out to THR, saying:
I’m excited about it because it just shows that there’s a strong market for comedy in movie theaters, and spoof in particular. People are liking it, which is great. I really like the director, and I just couldn’t wish him more well. I texted him already, saying, ‘I hear the reviews are great, and it’s tracking well.’ He was very happy to hear from me, and we’ll probably get together later in the month when the smoke clears.
The Naked Gun was directed by The Lonely Island’s Akiva Schaffer, whose previous filmmaking credits include Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping and Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers. While it remains to be seen if the fourth Naked Gun movie will “save comedy” like that PSA amusingly promised, clearly Schaffer’s work paid off. CinemaBlend’s own Mike Reyes is among the movie’s supporters, giving a 4/5 score in his The Naked Gun review. It’s good to hear that David Zucker is pleased with this success and has been in contact with Schaffer about that, especially given his comments from May.
David Zucker Isn’t Interested In Sequels To His Movies Helmed By Other People
Back in May, David Zucker revealed that he turned down a producer credit on The Naked Gun after being displeased with the script. While it sounds like his stance has softened a bit since then, the director behind other spoofs like Airplane! And Top Secret! still isn’t interested in seeing another person’s vision for a property he previously worked on. As he explained:
I’m not gonna see it, but I don’t see any of the sequels that were of my material done by other people, and that’s fine. I’ve told Akiva that I have no intention to see it. He actually invited me to come see an early cut of it, but I told him there’s nothing I could do to help because it really isn’t what I would have done. That’s not to say that he didn’t actually end up doing a good movie. But I don’t think I could help with that.
The Naked Gun 4 had been in development stretching back to the late 2000s, and at one point David Zucker was working on a script with Pat Proft and Mike McManus that would have followed Frank Drebin’s thirty-something son. There was also a time when Ed Helms was attached to lead a more straightforward reboot. But ultimately it’s the Liam Neeson-led version that came together, and while it’s not as though Zucker was rooting for the new movie to fail, he doesn’t care to see how it turned out because it’s not the kind of Naked Gun 4 he wanted to make.
While David won’t be seated in a theater to witness the comedy on display in The Naked Gun, the rest of you can do so now. Liam Neeson is joined onscreen by Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter, CCH Pounder, Danny Huston and Kevin Durand, among others, and hopefully become available to stream with a Paramount+ subscription before the year is over.