Frank Drebin Lives On Through Liam Neeson

A nation known for its stiff upper lip is about to see them fall again. Three decades after Leslie Nielsen’s last foray into slapstick crime-solving, his turn as pompously earnest Detective Frank Drebin is getting the long-awaited Naked Gun sequel it deserves. (Yes, you read that right: The Naked Gun is finally getting a new movie.) But Nielsen won’t be reprising his role this time around. In The Naked Gun 2025, due in theaters Aug. 1, Liam Neeson will star as Drebin’s son in a “legacy sequel.”

Nielsen’s original Naked Gun film, The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, hit theaters in 1988 and was a hit with audiences. Drebin is sent to foil an assassination plot against Queen Elizabeth II during her trip to the United States. The campy, blooper-filled film is part of a trilogy of absurd and goofy spoof comedies centered around Nielsen’s hapless, kindly, if confused cop. In 1991, the Naked Gun sequel The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear was released, in which Drebin uncovers a conspiracy to kidnap one of the world’s top nuclear scientists. In 1994, Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult, Drebin is called out of retirement to foil a bombing plot that’s targeting the Academy Awards. No more Naked Gun films followed those sequels, and fans were in the dark for decades about when the next Naked Gun would arrive.

The plan for a Naked Gun reboot originally hatched in 2013 when Paramount cast Office alum Ed Helms to play a new detective in the role, to be titled “Frank Drebin, no relation.” (Liam Neeson’s son Michael was originally cast as Frank Drebin III, Drebin’s grandson, but left the project.) It would be another five years before a new iteration of a Drebin comedy began working, with Seth MacFarlane as producer and in charge of writing and directing duties. But the transition from the original franchise to the new one hasn’t exactly been smooth.

David Zucker, the producer and original director of the first two Naked Gun films, wasn’t involved in the reboot, after having outright refused to be associated with it, saying in 2019, “No, it’s not happening. I’m not a part of it. I don’t even want it to happen. I think it would be inferior.” Zucker briefly got back into a development deal for a Drebin reboot, which was put on hold. Zucker and the team created a new draft with Drebin’s son as a secret agent.

Eventually, Zucker stepped away from the project completely, and the team had an early version of a Drebin comedy in which Drebin’s son would wear the badge in the sequel. Neeson was added to the project in 2021.

Neeson is by no means the only familiar face to feature in The Naked Gun. Paul Walter Hauser is playing Captain Ed Hocken, Jr., Drebin Sr.’s longtime Police Squad partner. Hocken Jr. fans will see in the trailer a few cameo appearances, most notably in the Fantastic Four: First Steps as the titular superhero team’s villain, Mole Man. Pamela Anderson has been cast as Beth, a femme fatale seeking Drebin Jr.’s help in solving the murder of her brother, the news of which serves as the inciting incident that launches the film’s plot. Kevin Durand, Danny Huston, Liza Koshy, Cody Rhodes, CCH Pounder, Busta Rhymes, and Eddy Yu also star.

Fans of the franchise may be in for a mixed bag with the first trailer. Zucker, who is still seeking to protect the legacy of his original trilogy (who among us is not? ), told TMZ that he binged the teaser in one sitting and regretted it, calling the brief glimpse into Drebin’s world “sad.” But even if one hates that trailer (we must also love you, David Zucker), there are reasons to hope. Neeson has bought fully into the comedy of the past Naked Gun franchise, calling back to his own and famously deadpan “particular set of skills” role as Sean Archer from the Taken films. Drebin tells Beth in the trailer to “Turn your back” before ripping off an attacker’s arms and using them to beat her assailant. “A voice in your head saying over and over ‘That was awesome,’” Drebin adds.

The trailer also has a powerful moment of father-son comedy. The characters (the real-life dads are in voiceover in this scene) bond over the memory of their fathers in front of commemorative plaques honoring their dads. Neeson looks crestfallen after he and Ed Jr. spend some time on screen facing the memory of their fathers.

But the silliness is not over: There’s still plenty of Zucker-comedy to behold in the trailer. Drebin Jr. commandeers the bathroom in a coffee shop, explaining to the staff that he needs the space “to conduct police business.” Neeson walks around in absurdly stoic fashion, delivering faceplants with gravitas before reciting some nonsense one-liner. “If you don’t mind my saying, the timing was perfect,” Drebin says in one gag. (Never mind, Drebin, you’re allowed to say that!)

The trailer goes so far as to parlay the seemingly hackneyed plot into an excuse for Drebin to ham it up while saying absolutely nothing of any real value. The setup is as follows: Beth is having Drebin Jr. solve the murder of her brother, because if the police can’t solve it, the Police Squad will be shut down. Her brother was a victim of the “Stop Killing Us League,” or SKULL. This is where Drebin Jr. can truly show off his acting chops. The brother’s killer tells Drebin that he served 20 years for the crime of “man’s laughter.” Drebin Jr. calls him out on his error. “It was manslaughter,” Drebin points out, “Must have been quite the joke.” (Drebin is no longer biting off arms and bicep curls in his downtime.)

It’s early, but the chemistry between Drebin Jr. and Hocken Jr. in the one bit that shows them in full-on buddy cop mode looks good. (We can only imagine the comedy that could come from Drebin Jr. facing off with his old man in the one scene that’s bound to come in the actual film.) Neeson is either getting fully into the spirit of the franchise, or he has great faceplants. (We can only imagine the comedy that comes from Neeson and Drebin sharing the screen.)

One can be forgiven if the humor in The Naked Gun 2025 doesn’t land for everyone: The jokes, the sets, and the scripts are all broad, pun-laden, and wonderfully ridiculous. But in 2025, as in 1988, there’s a place for movies like these. If the trailer is any indication, The Naked Gun 2025 will be dishing out the mindless summer nostalgia comedy in time for us to all use the word “inferior” in its intended context one more time.