David Zucker Renews Attack on New Star-Led Naked Gun Reboot
The original director of The Naked Gun, David Zucker, has renewed his verbal assault concerning the newly released revival featuring Liam Neeson, following a short period where he seemed to soften his stance in the aftermath of the film's cinema debut.
Director's Disapproval of the New Film's Style
During a fresh discussion, Zucker expressed that Seth MacFarlane, the producer behind the new Naked Gun and formerly the filmmaker and script collaborator of the Ted movies, "totally missed" the spoof-comedy style that Zucker, together with his collaborators Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams, made famous in Airplane! and the initial trilogy of 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 did that so well that it appears simple, clearly. People started copying it, like Seth MacFarlane for the recent reboot. He totally missed it."
Zucker continued: "It can look like we're just randomly trying ideas to see what sticks, but we're not. Consideration is involved."
The Irreplaceable Star
Zucker added that it was pointless to make the movie without Leslie Nielsen, who played Frank Drebin and passed away in 2010, saying: "They tried to replace Leslie Nielsen in the new Naked Gun, and you can't replace him. Nobody else is capable of that."
Previous Reservations and Changing Stance
The filmmaker had earlier expressed opposition to the decision to proceed with a Naked Gun reboot, remarking last year that he was "not excited about having the series handed over to other people". Adding: "I have not been approached to make a cameo or be involved in the writing. Regardless of if they're going to do a good job with it, this style of parody, I mean it's not rocket science, but it is challenging."
Nonetheless, after a string of positive reviews and impressive financial performance after its release in August, Zucker adopted a more agreeable stance, saying: "I'm excited about it because it just demonstrates there's a healthy audience for comedy in movie theatres, and parody specifically."
Renewed Disapproval Over Budget Concerns
However, Zucker returned to the attack in the recent discussion, criticising the amount of money involved. "Large financial outlays and humor are incompatible, and in the recent reboot, you could see that they spent a lot of money on scenes with impressive technical effects while attempting to replicate our style."
He added: "Everybody's in it for the money now, and that feels like the sole motivation why they wanted to do a new Naked Gun."