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The original director of The Naked Gun, David Zucker, has renewed his verbal assault concerning the newly released revival featuring Liam Neeson, after briefly appearing to soften his stance following the premiere of the film's cinema debut.

Zucker's Critique of the New Film's Style

During a fresh discussion, Zucker expressed that Seth MacFarlane, the producer behind the new Naked Gun and previously the director and co-writer of the Ted movies, "totally missed" the spoof-comedy style that Zucker, together with his collaborators Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams, popularized in Airplane! and the three original Naked Gun films.

"Jerry, my sibling, and Jim Abrahams, our associate, began creating spoof comedies 50 years ago, and we developed a unique approach – and we executed it so effectively that it looks easy, clearly. People started copying it, like the new film's producer for the recent reboot. He completely misunderstood it."

Zucker continued: "It can look like we're just randomly trying ideas to see what sticks, but we're not. There's thought behind it."

Leslie Nielsen's Legacy

Zucker added that it was futile to make the movie without Leslie Nielsen, who portrayed the iconic character and passed away 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 the decision to proceed with a Naked Gun reboot, saying in 2024 that he was "not excited about having the series handed over to other people". He continued: "They have not contacted me 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's not rocket science, but it's not easy."

Nonetheless, after a string of positive reviews and strong box office returns after its release in August, Zucker adopted a more agreeable stance, commenting: "I am pleased by it because it just shows that there's a healthy audience for comedy in cinemas, and spoof in particular."

Renewed Disapproval Over Budget Concerns

However, Zucker resumed his criticism in the new interview, criticising the amount of money involved. "Large financial outlays and humor are incompatible, and in the recent reboot, you could see that they invested heavily on scenes with impressive technical effects while attempting to replicate our style."

Zucker further noted: "Everybody's in it for the money now, and that feels like the sole motivation why they wanted to do a new Naked Gun."