Can he be Frank?
David Zucker, the director and co-writer of the 1988 spoof comedy “The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!,” has lots of gripes with the brand new reboot — from the casting of Liam Neeson as Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. to its similarities together with his beloved authentic.
However, the filmmaker admitted, he hasn’t even watched the replace, which hits theaters this weekend.
“I don’t plan on seeing it because, why would I?,” Zucker, 77, informed the Each day Mail.
Zucker, his brother Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams have been comedy powerhouses within the Nineteen Eighties and ‘90s — a crew referred to as ZAZ — creating “Airplane!,” “The Naked Gun” (in addition to the ABC TV present that spawned it, “Police Squad”) and “Top Secret!”
However Paramount selected to not contain him within the newest chapter — the primary in 31 years — which is directed and co-written by Akiva Schaffer of “Saturday Night Live” and the Lonely Island.
Seth MacFarlane, the creator and voice star of “Family Guy,” acts as producer.
“I wrote a whole script for ‘Naked Gun 4’ on spec for Paramount,” David stated. “I understand the studio’s thinking to go with Seth MacFarlane. He’s a proven commodity and Liam Neeson is a big star, but it’s not a fresh idea.”
The “Naked Gun” relaunch, which additionally options Pamela Anderson, could be very a lot within the mildew of the previous trilogy — with trendy nods to spy films similar to “Mission: Impossible.”
The primary three movies starred Leslie Nielsen as woeful LA cop Frank Drebin. Irish Neeson performs his son, who’s simply as reckless and blustering.
Nonetheless, David doesn’t suppose the acclaimed Neeson is a logical match for the franchise he birthed.
“OJ [Simpson]… he didn’t need to be funny,” he stated. “And even Leslie Nielsen doesn’t have to be humorous. He simply needed to be a B-movie actor. That’s what we did… We didn’t fake to solid Laurence Olivier and even Al Pacino. However Liam Neeson, for instance, he’s like Oscar high quality. I feel he might have gained for ‘Schindler’s Listing.’ So I imply, what’s he making enjoyable of?’
MacFarlane reached out to him, however the gesture was too little, too late.
“I had a conversation with Seth and he spent 10 minutes just telling me how he idolized ‘Naked Gun,’ ‘Airplane,’ ‘Top Secret,’” he stated.
“How can you be mad at anybody who tells you how great you are? But it’s not enough to be a fan…The guy at my dry cleaners is a big fan, but it doesn’t mean he can do ‘Naked Gun.’”
Critics, to this point, are extra on board with the reboot.
The Put up awarded the comedy 4 stars, calling it “the funniest movie to hit theaters in a long time.”
The flick at the moment holds a 90% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and an 87% ranking from audiences.
“I hope people go to see it, as miffed as I am at the whole thing,” David stated.
“Seth thought he knew best and it may actually do well, which is crazy in itself.”
