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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, following a short period where he seemed to adopt a more conciliatory tone in the aftermath of the film's cinema debut.

Zucker's Critique of the New Film's Style

During a fresh discussion, Zucker stated that Seth MacFarlane, the creative force behind the new Naked Gun and formerly the filmmaker and script collaborator of the Ted movies, "totally missed" the parody genre approach that Zucker, together with his collaborators Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams, made famous in Airplane! and the three original Naked Gun films.

"Jerry, my sibling, and Jim Abrahams, our associate, began creating spoof comedies five decades in the past, and we developed a unique approach – and we executed it so effectively that it appears simple, evidently. People started copying it, like Seth MacFarlane for the recent reboot. He completely misunderstood it."

Zucker continued: "It might appear that we're just throwing stuff up against the wall to see what sticks, but we're not. There's thought behind it."

The Irreplaceable Star

The director further stated that it was pointless to produce the film without Leslie Nielsen, who played Frank Drebin and passed away in 2010, remarking: "They tried to replace Leslie Nielsen in the recent revival, and you can't replace him. No one else can do that."

Earlier Objections and Changing Stance

The filmmaker had earlier expressed opposition to the decision to proceed with a Naked Gun reboot, saying in 2024 that he was "not enthusiastic regarding having the franchise given to other people". He continued: "I have not been approached to appear briefly or be involved in the writing. Whether or not they're going to do a good job with it, this kind of spoof, I mean it isn't overly complex, but it is challenging."

Nonetheless, after a series of favorable critiques and strong box office returns following its launch in August, Zucker struck a more conciliatory tone, commenting: "I'm excited about it because it just shows that there's a healthy audience for comedy in movie theatres, and spoof in particular."

Return to Criticism Over Budget Concerns

However, Zucker resumed his criticism in the recent discussion, questioning the financial investment. "Large financial outlays and humor are incompatible, 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: "Financial motives drive everyone currently, and that seems to be the sole motivation why they wanted to do a new Naked Gun."