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The original director of The Naked Gun, David Zucker, has reignited his criticism concerning the newly released revival featuring Liam Neeson, after briefly appearing to soften his stance in the aftermath of the film's cinema debut.

Director's Disapproval of the New Film's Style

In a recent interview, Zucker expressed that Seth MacFarlane, the producer behind the new Naked Gun and previously the filmmaker and script collaborator of the Ted movies, "completely failed to grasp" the spoof-comedy style that Zucker, along with his partners Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams, made famous in Airplane! and the initial trilogy of Naked Gun films.

"My brother, Jerry, and our partner, Jim Abrahams, began creating spoof comedies 50 years ago, and we originated our own style – and we did that so well that it looks easy, evidently. Others began imitating it, like Seth MacFarlane for the recent reboot. He totally missed it."

Zucker continued: "It can look like we're just randomly trying ideas to see what sticks, but we're not. There's thought behind it."

Leslie Nielsen's Legacy

The director further stated that it was futile to produce the film without Leslie Nielsen, who played Frank Drebin and who died in 2010, remarking: "They tried to replace Leslie Nielsen in the new Naked Gun, and you can't replace him. No one else can do that."

Earlier Objections and Shifting Tone

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 other people". Adding: "I have not been approached to make a cameo or be involved in the writing. Regardless of if they're going to do a good job with it, this style of parody, I mean it's not rocket science, but it is challenging."

However, after a series of favorable critiques and impressive financial performance after its release in August, Zucker adopted a more agreeable stance, saying: "I am pleased by it because it just shows that there's a strong market for comedy in movie theatres, and spoof in particular."

Renewed Disapproval Over Financial Aspects

Yet, Zucker returned to the attack in the recent discussion, criticising the amount of money involved. "Large financial outlays and humor are incompatible, and in the recent reboot, you could see that they spent a lot of money on scenes with impressive technical effects while attempting to replicate our style."

Zucker further noted: "Financial motives drive everyone currently, and that feels like the sole motivation why they wanted to do a new Naked Gun."