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The original director of The Naked Gun, David Zucker, has renewed his verbal assault concerning the recent reboot featuring Liam Neeson, after briefly appearing to adopt a more conciliatory tone following the premiere of the film's cinema debut.

Zucker's Critique of the New Film's Style

During a fresh discussion, Zucker expressed that Seth MacFarlane, the producer behind the new Naked Gun and previously the filmmaker and script collaborator of the Ted movies, "totally missed" the spoof-comedy style that Zucker, together with his partners Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams, popularized in Airplane! and the initial trilogy of Naked Gun films.

"Jerry, my sibling, and Jim Abrahams, our associate, started doing spoof comedies five decades in the past, and we originated our own style – and we executed it so effectively that it looks easy, clearly. Others began imitating it, like Seth MacFarlane for the new Naked Gun. He totally missed it."

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

The Irreplaceable Star

Zucker added that it was futile to produce the film without Leslie Nielsen, who played Frank Drebin and passed away in 2010, remarking: "They tried to replace Leslie Nielsen in the recent revival, and he cannot be replaced. 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, remarking last year that he was "not excited about having the series handed over to different individuals". He continued: "I have not been approached to appear briefly or be involved in the writing. Whether or not they're going to do a good job with it, this kind of spoof, I mean it isn't overly complex, but it is challenging."

Nonetheless, after a string of positive reviews and impressive financial performance following its launch in August, Zucker struck a more conciliatory tone, commenting: "I am pleased by it because it just shows that there's a strong market for comedy in cinemas, and parody specifically."

Return to Criticism Over Financial Aspects

Yet, Zucker returned to the attack in the new interview, criticising the amount of money involved. "Big budgets and comedy are opposites, and in the recent reboot, you could see that they invested heavily on scenes with impressive technical effects while attempting to replicate our style."

He added: "Everybody's in it for the money now, and that feels like the only reason why they wanted to do a fresh installment."