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The original director of The Naked Gun, David Zucker, has renewed his verbal assault concerning the newly released revival featuring Liam Neeson, following a short period where he seemed to soften his stance in the aftermath of the film's theatrical release.

Director's Disapproval of the New Film's Style

In a recent interview, Zucker expressed that Seth MacFarlane, the creative force behind the new Naked Gun and previously the filmmaker and script collaborator of the Ted movies, "completely failed to grasp" the parody genre approach that Zucker, together with his collaborators Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams, popularized in Airplane! and the three original Naked Gun films.

"Jerry, my sibling, and Jim Abrahams, our associate, started doing spoof comedies 50 years ago, and we originated our own style – and we did that so well that it appears simple, evidently. Others began imitating it, like Seth MacFarlane for the new Naked Gun. He completely misunderstood it."

He added: "It might appear that we're just randomly trying ideas to see what sticks, but we're not. There's thought behind it."

Leslie Nielsen's Legacy

Zucker added that it was futile to produce the film without Leslie Nielsen, who portrayed the iconic character and who died in 2010, remarking: "They tried to replace Leslie Nielsen in the recent revival, and you can't replace him. No one else can do that."

Previous Reservations and Changing Stance

The filmmaker had earlier expressed opposition to plans to go ahead with a Naked Gun reboot, saying in 2024 that he was "not excited about having the series handed over to different individuals". He continued: "They have not contacted me to make a cameo or be involved in the writing. Regardless of if they're going to succeed with it, this kind of spoof, I mean it isn't overly complex, but it's not easy."

Nonetheless, after a series of favorable critiques and impressive financial performance following its launch in August, Zucker struck a more conciliatory tone, commenting: "I am pleased by it because it just demonstrates there's a strong market for comedy in movie theatres, and parody specifically."

Return to Criticism Over Budget Concerns

Yet, Zucker resumed his criticism in the recent discussion, criticising the amount of money involved. "Big budgets and comedy are opposites, and in the recent reboot, you could see that they spent a lot of money on scenes with impressive technical effects while trying to copy our style."

Zucker further noted: "Everybody's in it for the money now, and that feels like the sole motivation why they decided to produce a fresh installment."