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The filmmaker behind the classic of The Naked Gun, David Zucker, has renewed his verbal assault concerning the newly released revival featuring Liam Neeson, after briefly appearing to adopt a more conciliatory tone following the premiere of the film's cinema debut.

Zucker's Critique of the New Film's Style

In a recent interview, Zucker expressed that Seth MacFarlane, the creative force behind the new Naked Gun and previously the director and co-writer of the Ted movies, "completely failed to grasp" the parody genre approach that Zucker, along with his partners Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams, popularized in Airplane! and the initial trilogy of Naked Gun films.

"My brother, Jerry, and our partner, Jim Abrahams, 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 Seth MacFarlane for the recent reboot. He completely misunderstood it."

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

The Irreplaceable Star

Zucker added that it was futile 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 new Naked Gun, and you can't replace him. Nobody else is capable of that."

Previous Reservations and Shifting Tone

The filmmaker had earlier expressed opposition to plans to go ahead with a Naked Gun reboot, saying in 2024 that he was "not excited about having the series handed over to different individuals". He continued: "I have not been approached to make a cameo or participate in scripting. 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's not easy."

Nonetheless, after a string of positive reviews and impressive financial performance after its release in August, Zucker struck a more conciliatory tone, saying: "I'm excited about it because it just shows that there's a healthy audience for comedy in cinemas, and parody specifically."

Return to Criticism Over Financial Aspects

Yet, Zucker returned to the attack in the recent discussion, questioning the financial investment. "Big budgets and comedy are opposites, and in the new Naked Gun, you could see that they spent a lot of money on scenes full of technical pizzazz while attempting to replicate our style."

Zucker further noted: "Everybody's in it for the money now, and that seems to be the only reason why they wanted to do a new Naked Gun."