‘Naked Gun’: Paul Walter Hauser Joins Liam Neeson in Reboot

Ryan Gajewski
·1 min read
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Paul Walter Hauser is ready to fight crime alongside Liam Neeson in the reboot of the Naked Gun franchise.

Hauser is set to play Captain Ed in director Akiva Schaffer’s untitled new Naked Gun film that Paramount Pictures plans to release July 18, 2025. George Kennedy previously played the role in the original film trilogy that kicked off with the 1988 comedy The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!

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Dan Gregor and Doug Mand penned the new movie’s script with Schaffer. The two scribes previously wrote the director’s Emmy-winning Disney+ feature Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers. Seth MacFarlane and Erica Huggins of Fuzzy Door produce the project that is based on the Naked Gun film franchise and the television series Police Squad! from Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker. Daniel M. Stillman serves as executive producer.

Hauser joins the cast that includes Neeson and Pamela Anderson. While plot details are under wraps, The Hollywood Reporter previously reported that Neeson will play bumbling detective Frank Drebin, originated in the franchise by the late Leslie Nielsen.

Earlier this week, THR reported that New Line Cinema landed the forthcoming Chris Farley biopic from director Josh Gad that stars Hauser as the late Saturday Night Live standout. Hauser’s other prominent credits include the Apple TV+ series Black Bird, for which he won an Emmy, in addition to the films I, Tonya (2017), BlacKkKlansman (2018), Richard Jewell (2019) and Cruella (2021). He voices a character in this summer’s Inside Out 2 and will appear opposite Matt Damon in Doug Liman’s The Instigators.

Hauser is represented by CAA, Artists First, The Lede Company and Schreck Rose.

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