Summary
- Seth MacFarlane’s involvement in the Naked Gun reboot brings promise for its success, given his previous experience in spoofing iconic properties and his ability to blend parody and satire.
- MacFarlane’s collaboration with Liam Neeson in past projects showcases the actor’s strengths in comedy, adding weight to his casting as Drebin Jr. in the reboot.
- Alongside MacFarlane, Akiva Schaffer’s background in satire and comedy, including his success in reviving old properties, suggests that the new Naked Gun will likely stack up well against its predecessors.
With two years having past since he first joined the project, Seth MacFarlane has a promising update for the Naked Gun reboot. Acting as a spinoff of the spoof comedy The Police Squad, the Leslie Nielsen-led comedies revolved around a hapless detective investigating a series of major crimes in Los Angeles. After years of attempts to produce a fourth movie, a Naked Gunn reboot was announced in the works in 2013, initially with Ed Helms starring, though after nearly a decade of development hell, MacFarlane came on board to produce with Liam Neeson starring and The Lonely Island’s Akiva Schaffer co-writing and directing.
During a recent interview with Collider for the upcoming Ted prequel show, MacFarlane was asked about the development of the Naked Gun reboot. Despite much radio silence in the year since Schaffer was hired, the producer confirmed that the movie is not only “still very much alive“, but that he’s very excited about the latest draft of the script for the movie. Check out what MacFarlane shared below:
It’s being worked on as we speak. Akiva Schaffer, who’s written the draft with his team, has done a hell of a job, and it is in development. So, it is still very much alive.
Why MacFarlane Is Perfect For Naked Gun
While reboots in general can be a troublesome thing to nail, MacFarlane’s involvement with the new Naked Gun proves a promising one for its chances. The five-time Emmy winner has frequently found acclaim for his ability to both spoof and parody iconic properties across his projects, with Family Guy in particular being a satire on the typical sitcom format. However, one of the more notable examples is that of The Orville, which began partly as a spoof of Star Trek before evolving into a more sincere sci-fi adventure show exploring trenchant themes.
Though Naked Gun has never sought to be a layered comedy, instead reveling in its spoof format, MacFarlane helping with the reboot could see it evolve into something more than a retread of its classic originals. Additionally, his involvement in the project is what landed Neeson in the starring role as Drebin Jr., marking his fifth collaboration with MacFarlane following A Million Ways to Die in the West, Ted 2, multiple cameos in Family Guy and The Orville. While best known as an action star, Neeson’s partnerships with MacFarlane have done well to spotlight the actor’s strengths in the world of comedy.
MacFarlane isn’t the only reason to have faith in the Naked Gun reboot as Schaffer is similarly well-versed in the world of satire and comedy. Between the pop music satire of Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping to his experience on Saturday Night Live, the actor-director has even shown strength in reviving old properties with 2022’s Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers movie, which brought home the Emmy for Outstanding Television Movie. As such, while movies that languish in development hell can frequently prove underwhelming, the talent behind the new Naked Gun should help it come close to matching its predecessors, if not surpassing them.
Source: Collider
