According to Deadline, we’re inches away from a green light for a Naked Gun reboot where Liam Neeson fulfills his destiny and becomes this generation’s Leslie Nielsen. He’s the last piece of the puzzle which already has Lonely Island’s Akiva Schaffer directing, and Dan Gregor and Doug Mand (Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers) set to co-write the script.
Reports Deadline:
Plot details are being kept under wraps except that Neeson might be playing the son of Detective Frank Drebin instead of stepping into the role made famous by Leslie Nielsen
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Neeson might not seem like an obvious choice for the role but has shown his comedic chops over the years especially in MacFarlane comedies. The Family Guy creator and Ted director and Neeson still have strong ties, and when MacFarlane came to him with the idea, Neeson committed to star.
This is the second major attempt at rebooting the classic spoof franchise after Ed Helms was set to take on starring duty back in 2013. It’s also a year and a half since Neeson revealed that Paramount and new Naked Gun producers Erica Huggins and Seth MacFarlane had approached him for the project. In other words, Neeson taking the mantle as Detective Frank Drebin, Jr. has been a long time coming. Maybe they’ll make fun of how he and Nielsen look nothing alike. Enrico Pallazzo’s son, I’d buy, but Drebin’s?
Weirdly, Chip ‘n Dale is the closest inroad we have to a vision for the project, because Schaffer directed it from Gregor and Mand’s script. Beyond all the cartoon-based, kid-angled comedy, it featured the new brand of parody that’s largely self-referential and tongue-in-cheek, as opposed to the straight-arrow version that Nielsen excelled at. Fortunately, Neeson has the bonafides to be self-serious as a bumbling cop. So, prepare yourself accordingly. As with any reboots, this will either tarnish the great name of Naked Gun forever or be the best of all time with no in-between.
(via Deadline)