The Naked Gun’s Frank Drebin lives again, with star Liam Neeson revealing that production on the long-gestating reboot will kick off this summer.
Actor Liam Neeson has revealed that Paramount is aiming for a summer production start for The Naked Gun reboot.
In an interview with Collider, the actor explained that filming would begin as soon as the final version of the script is finished. “Yes, we’re waiting on a script. Yeah, we’re hoping it’ll happen this year, maybe in the summertime,” he said.
When asked if the film is a priority for everyone involved, Neeson replied, “Yeah, Paramount Studios, I think. I approached Seth MacFarlane, he and his team are working on it, the scripts. So, we’re hoping to go in the summertime, you know?”
Neeson’s casting in the upcoming reboot was first confirmed in October 2022, which was also when Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers director and Lonely Island member Akiva Schaffer was announced as the film’s director.
Schaffer will work off a script from Rescue Rangers writers Dan Gregor and Doug Mand. Paramount Pictures is backing The Naked Gun, with Seth MacFarlane and Erica Huggins’ Fuzzy Door Productions set to produce.
Plot details about the project remain under wraps at this time. Neeson, who in recent years has become a bonafide action star, will make a rare return to the comedy genre with The Naked Gun.
The actor previously worked with MacFarlane on the comedy films A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014) and Ted 2 (2015). He also voiced himself in two episodes of MacFarlane’s long-running Fox comedy series, Family Guy.
With The Naked Gun gearing up for a summer shoot, it looks like the reboot is finally getting out of development hell, which is where the project has been stuck since 2013.
At the time, The Office and The Hangover star Ed Helms was attached to the reboot, which would have seen the actor play either the son of Frank Drebin from the original trilogy of films or an unrelated character who happens to also be named Frank Drebin.
That version of the film dissolved sometime before 2021, when MacFarlane joined the project and Neeson was first rumored to be the top pick for Drebin.
The Naked Gun franchise began in 1988 with the release of The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! The film series, which served as a continuation of the short-lived 1982 television series Police Squad!, starred Leslie Nielsen as Detective Frank Drebin.
The first film — now considered a comedy classic — was both a critical and commercial success upon release, leading to two sequels — 1991’s Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear and 1994’s Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult.
The Naked Gun reboot does not yet have a release date.
