Liam Neeson Will Star in a ‘Naked Gun’ Remake

The Naked Gun is getting a remake starring Liam Neeson.

The original film, released in 1988, became a sold hit for the team of David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker, who previously had a smash hit with the spoof Airplane! The Naked Gun was their take on classic cop movies, with Leslie Nielson in the role of bumbling cop Lt. Frank Drebin.

The film was based on a short-lived TV show called Police Squad!, also starring Nielsen as Drebin, which the Zuckers and Abrahams made after Airplane! Although the TV version was canceled after only a couple of episodes, The Naked Gun was a full-fledge comedy blockbuster, and it spawned multiple sequels.

Attempts have been made through the years to revive the franchise; at one point Ed Helms was lined up to start as Drebin, but that film never came together.

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According to Variety, the new Naked Gun with Neeson will be “directed and executive produced by Akiva Schaffer, who co-wrote the draft script alongside Dan Gregor and Doug Man, reprising their partnership from the Emmy-winning film Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers.” (If you missed that movie, it was actually about as close to a good modern-day spoof as Hollywood has made in recent years, so that’s a great team to make a new Naked Gun movie.)

As for Neeson, he might seem like an odd choice for a comedy like The Naked Gun but I actually think he could be a perfect fit. Before Airplane!, Leslie Nielsen was not known as a comic actor at all. He was poking fun at his own image as a kinda-stiff guy in mostly middling dramas, and he turned out to be perfect at that. Nielsen has been funny in movies — he was great as a voice in The LEGO Movie — but he has such an intense gruff persona in action movies, he has a lot of material to work with playing a comic version of himself.

The new Naked Gun is scheduled to open in theaters July 18, 2025.