Liam Neeson Will Take Over for Leslie Nielsen in “The Naked Gun” Reboot

The next 'Naked Gun' movie premieres in theaters July 18, 2025

Liam Neeson is taking a turn toward comedy.

On Wednesday, multiple outlets reported that Neeson, 71, is set to star in a reboot of The Naked Gun series for Paramount that will release in theaters July 18, 2025.

Akiva Schaffer, the former Saturday Night Live writer known for his collaborations with The Lonely Island and Andy Samberg, is set to direct and executive producer the reboot of the crime-comedy series that originated with the Leslie Nielsen-starring television series Police Squad!

The three Naked Gun movies starred the late Nielsen, who died in 2010 at 84, as police officer Frank Drebin in a spoof of American crime movies. The original 1982 television series gave way to three movies in the Naked Gun franchise that released in 1988, 1991 and 1994.

Dan Gregor and Doug Mand, two screenwriters who worked with Schaffer, 46, on 2022's Chip 'n Dale; Rescue Rangers, are writing the script for the Naked Gun reboot; Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane is attached as an executive producer.

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The first Naked Gun movie celebrated its 35th anniversary in December. At the time, THR spoke with David Zucker and Pat Proft, who directed and cowrote the original series, about whether or not they were involved with the ongoing reboot effort at Paramount.

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"Pat, Mike and I wrote a script for Naked Gun 4, and we heard Jon Gonda at Paramount had read the script and laughed all the way through it," Zucker said at the time. "But somewhere along the line, they decided not to go with Pat and Mike and me. So that’s when they got Seth MacFarlane, and he has Akiva Schaffer directing Liam Neeson. I was never able to meet with Seth."

Proft expressed that the new movie "may come out and may be great," but he expressed dismay that he was not involved in writing the film.

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Neeson's turn in the next Naked Gun film comes after he appeared in three movies last year, including the action movie Retribution, Ethan Hawke's Wildcat and In the Land of Saints and Sinners. The actor has several more projects in the works, per his IMDb page.

The next Naked Gun movie is set for release July 18, 2025.

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