The Naked Gun director Akiva Schaffer has opened up about lead star Liam Neeson‘s performance in the upcoming sequel reboot to the classic Police Squad franchise. The movie is slated to make its debut in theaters on August 1, 2025.
“Only one man has the particular set of skills… to lead Police Squad and save the world! Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. follows in his father’s footsteps in The Naked Gun,” reads the official synopsis.
The Naked Gun director teases Liam Neeson’s performance
During a recent interview, Schaffer explained why Neeson’s Frank Debin Jr. is different from franchise star Leslie Nielsen’s iconic character. He revealed it would have been unfair to the Taken actor to mimic the original Frank Debin’s quirks and antics, that’s why they made sure Frank Jr. is his own character.
“Liam’s got his own things, but they’re not Leslie Nielsen’s things,” Schaffer said. “It would also be unfair to Liam [to try to mimic Nielsen], because he’d be spending the whole movie trying to match something that is another human being with a whole different — forgive me — set of skills.”
The Naked Gun is directed and executive produced by Akiva Schaffer of The Lonely Island comedy group (Hot Rod), who has been attached to helm the reboot since 2022. The cast also includes Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, CCH Pounder, Kevin Durand, Cody Rhodes, Liza Koshy, and Eddie Yu, with Danny Huston. Schaffer also co-wrote the screenplay with Dan Gregor and Doug Mand. It is also produced by Seth MacFarlane and Erica Huggins for Fuzzy Door, with Daniel M. Stillman, Pete Chiappetta, Anthony Tittanegro, and Andrew Lary executive producing.
(Source: Empire)
