Taken star and iconic aged action hero Liam Neeson has offered up a perfectly pitched, unashamedly foul-mouthed reason why audiences need his imminent action comedy reboot. From Friday, Neeson will take over from the late, great comedic icon Leslie Nielson as the lead of Police Squad in the long-awaited reboot of The Naked Gun, and the actor knows why we need to spend some time with Frank Drebin Jr. now more than ever.
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Liam Neeson has been showing his funny side in ‘The Naked Gun,’ and his very serious message for fans is as deadpan as they come.
During an appearance at the New York City premiere, Liam Neeson said it all when delivering a deadpan response to why modern audiences need The Naked Gun, giving both barrels and reflecting the thoughts and feelings of, well, everyone, saying…
“Because we’re all f*cked. And we need a few giggles.”
Putting the bleak state of the world so succinctly is clearly another of Neeson’s particular set of skills. Echoing these sentiments, producer and Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane joked, “It just feels like people are ready to have a big, good-natured laugh about the policing situation in Los Angeles. We really nailed the timing of this.”
Early Reactions to ‘The Naked Gun’ Have Been Hugely Promising
Beginning first as the short-lived series Police Squad! in 1982, The Naked Gun franchise now stands as one of the best-loved comedy trilogies ever made. Led by Leslie Nielson as the “detective with a heart of gold and a brain of wood,” Frank Drebin, The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! was released in 1988 and led to two sequels in The Naked Gun 2+1⁄2: The Smell of Fear in 1991 and Naked Gun 33+1⁄3: The Final Insult in 1994.
Directed by Akiva Schaffer (Saturday Night Live, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping) and from producer Seth MacFarlane (Ted, Family Guy), this year’s The Naked Gun acts as both reboot and legacy sequel and features an all-star cast alongside Liam Neeson, including Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, CCH Pounder, Kevin Durand, Cody Rhodes, Liza Koshy, Eddie Yu, with Danny Huston. The Naked Gun is all set to hit theaters on August 1, 2025, and you can check out the official synopsis below.
“Only one man has the particular set of skills… to lead Police Squad and save the world! Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. (Liam Neeson) follows in his father’s footsteps in THE NAKED GUN, directed by Akiva Schaffer (Saturday Night Live, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping) and from producer Seth MacFarlane (Ted, Family Guy). Joining the case are cast Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, CCH Pounder, Kevin Durand, Cody Rhodes, Liza Koshy, Eddie Yu, with Danny Huston.”
The early reactions to The Naked Gun have been positively glowing. David Ehrlich of IndieWire took to X/Twitter to say, “There are like six different scenes in The Naked Gun that made me laugh so hard I cried. Even the title card is funny. I wrote ‘SO DUMB (complimentary)’ in my notebook several times.” While critic Dimitri Kraus calls the action comedy “a small miracle that a movie like this exists in the current theatrical climate.”
Source: Variety, X
The Naked Gun
- Release Date
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August 1, 2025
- Producers
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Erica Huggins
