Paramount is preparing to remake The Naked Gun, a classic 1988 comedy created by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker, that became a trio of very successful and beloved features.
David Zucker spoke to TMZ this week about the remake: “I don’t have any control over it. I’m not involved, and they haven’t asked me for my help.”
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988), The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991), and Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult (1994) all starred the great Leslie Nielsen, along with Priscilla Presley, George Kennedy, and O.J. Simpson. Based on the short-lived T.V. series Police Squad! (which is hilarious), the trio of films grossed nearly a half-billion dollars worldwide. An amazing figure for a comedy, much less ones released some 30 years ago.
Having recently rewatched all three, I can tell you that in this fascistic age of the Woke Gestapo — which has destroyed comedy more than any other genre — the Naked Guns are an even bigger delight than when first released. There is a subversive quality today that wasn’t there when America was still sane and free. In short, they are gloriously problematic.
Nevertheless, Paramount has hired Liam Neeson to take over for Leslie Nielsen and Pamela Anderson to take over for Priscilla Presley with a July 2025 release date. But the comedic geniuses behind the original series haven’t even been asked on as producers or consultants.
“We are not excited about having the franchise given to other people. At the time, I couldn’t believe [the news about the remake] because we thought we had a great script,” David Zucker told TMZ of the remake script he co-wrote and submitted to Paramount in 2018.
“[Paramount] loved the script from what we heard,” Zucker added. “I don’t have any control over [the remake]. I’m not involved, and they haven’t asked me for my help… It’s completely their concept, and they’re just going to go ahead and do it.”
More:
Whether or not they are going to do a good job with it, this kind of spoof is not rocket science, but it’s not easy…. We kind of developed this way of doing spoofs over years and years—my brother [Jerry] and I, Jim Abrahams, Pat Proft, Mike McManus, and we kind of know the rules. That’s not to say somebody else can’t do it in their own style.
Zucker isn’t even too sure a remake this necessary…
Young generations are already watching Naked Gun, Airplane!; they’re discovering Top Secret, they know Baseketball, and so I don’t know whether a remake of Naked Gun will especially move the needle one way or the other.
He closed by saying the one thing he is certain of: the remake will not star O.J. Simpson. “I found that O.J.’s acting was a lot like his murdering,” he said. He got away with it, but nobody believed him.”
Zucker is correct about this particular brand of comedy being difficult to replicate. Within this specific genre are Airplane!, Naked Gun, Top Secret!, and Hot Shots! (which Abrahams did on his own) are by far the best of the bunch. Others have tried with titles like Spy Hard, Young Doctors in Love, Loaded Weapon, Superhero Movie, Wrongfully Accused, etc., but it’s just not the same.
However, I do have a soft spot for Airplane II, which Zucker was not part of and says he hasn’t seen.
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