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The original director of The Naked Gun, David Zucker, has reignited his criticism concerning the newly released revival featuring Liam Neeson, after briefly appearing to adopt a more conciliatory tone following the premiere of the film's theatrical release.

Director's Disapproval of the Reboot's Comedy Approach

In a recent interview, Zucker expressed that Seth MacFarlane, the producer behind the new Naked Gun and formerly the filmmaker and script collaborator of the Ted movies, "completely failed to grasp" the parody genre approach that Zucker, along with his partners Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams, made famous in Airplane! and the initial trilogy of Naked Gun films.

"My brother, Jerry, and our partner, Jim Abrahams, began creating spoof comedies five decades in the past, and we developed a unique approach – and we executed it so effectively that it appears simple, clearly. People started copying it, like the new film's producer for the new Naked Gun. 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."

The Irreplaceable Star

Zucker added that it was pointless to produce the film without Leslie Nielsen, who played Frank Drebin and passed away in 2010, saying: "They attempted to substitute 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 the decision to proceed with a Naked Gun reboot, saying in 2024 that he was "not excited about having the franchise given to different individuals". He continued: "They have not contacted me to appear briefly or be involved in the writing. Regardless of if 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."

However, after a series of favorable critiques and strong box office returns following its launch in August, Zucker adopted a more agreeable stance, saying: "I'm excited about it because it just demonstrates there's a strong market for comedy in cinemas, and spoof in particular."

Renewed Disapproval Over Financial Aspects

However, Zucker returned to the attack in the new interview, criticising the amount of money involved. "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 trying to copy our style."

He added: "Everybody's in it for the money now, and that seems to be the sole motivation why they wanted to do a new Naked Gun."