Frank Drebin Jr. Battles Crime and Clumsiness in Reboot

Silence will finally be broken on the big screen this summer when a trio of iconic characters return with an exciting new mission. The Naked Gun, a series of spoof comedies, is back in the biz after three long decades, this time with a “legacy sequel” that sees Liam Neeson taking over Leslie Nielsen’s signature roles. The new entry, Naked Gun: A Senseless Misadventure, is slated for release on August 1, 2025.

The 1988 crime-comedy The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! is still remembered fondly by comedy and film fans today. The original starred Leslie Nielsen as Detective Frank Drebin, a well-meaning but accident-prone detective. In the film, Drebin foils an assassination plot against Queen Elizabeth II, who is in the United States at the time to celebrate her birthday. The film was a huge success, and two sequels followed: The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear in 1991 and Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult in 1994. The second Naked Gun saw Drebin at his most famous, foiling a plot to kidnap a top nuclear scientist. By the time of the third film, Drebin has retired and comes out of retirement to solve a murder and foil a bombing plot against the Academy Awards ceremony.

There were no further Naked Gun sequels after the third outing. A reboot was first announced in 2013, with Paramount Studios’ then-president, Michael De Luca, telling Variety that work on a fourth Naked Gun was in full swing. The reboot would see Office star Ed Helms taking on the mantle as “Frank Drebin, no relation.” But the project went nowhere fast, with some pointing to the involvement of The Naked Gun producer and director David Zucker, who was part of the team that would reboot the 1988 original. Zucker refused to get involved in the reboot, claiming that no version would ever match the original and was “inferior in every possible way.” Zucker re-entered talks to revamp the script in 2017, which saw Drebin’s son become a secret agent—but that version was put on ice.

The latest, and what looks to be the final iteration, was kick-started in 2021 with Seth MacFarlane coming on board as the director and Nielsen staying on in an executive-producer role. It was at this time that Liam Neeson stepped into the spotlight. Neeson will play Drebin’s son, Frank Drebin Jr, who has inherited his father’s badge as a police lieutenant.

So Far, So Laughable

Paul Walter Hauser will join Neeson as Captain Ed Hocken, Jr., who is Drebin Sr.’s partner’s son. Hauser is also set to play the role of Mole Man in the new Fantastic Four: First Steps. Pamela Anderson will play a femme fatale and suspect named Beth, whose brother was murdered, the same one who begins the main mystery in the film. Beth is joined by Kevin Durand, Danny Huston, Liza Koshy, Cody Rhodes, CCH Pounder, Busta Rhymes, and Eddy Yu.

The first teaser trailer was released in April, albeit to a less-than-stellar reception. David Zucker, who remained connected to the franchise as an executive producer on the 2025 sequel, spoke to TMZ and said that he’d only watched it a few minutes before it went live. In the same interview, he expressed that the trailer gave him regret and made him sad, “I can’t unsee it.” All is not lost, however, and a silver lining is found within the comedy. Neeson is certainly stepping into the slapstick wheelhouse, playing his role in a way that parodies his famous “I have a particular set of skills” demeanor and tone that was born from the Taken franchise. In one shot in the trailer, Neeson grimly says, “Once you kill a man for revenge, there’s no going back” before ripping the arms from the attacker and swinging them around as makeshift weapons. “A voice in your head saying over and over ‘That was awesome,’” he quips.

There is also a more touching scene where Frank and Ed Jr. get a little choked up while they view some plaques in honor of their fathers.

The film’s story may be there, but it's supporting the slapstick premise and gags that the series has made famous. As it stands, Beth wants Drebin Jr.’s help with solving the murder of her brother, as if the Police Squad is disbanded, she will have no justice. One of the suspects mentions that he “did 20 years for a man’s laughter,” to which Drebin corrects him to say “manslaughter.” Drebin dryly replies, “Must have been quite the joke.”

From forcing a coffee shop bathroom to close to conduct “police business” to taking down a gangster with a carefully-placed one-liner delivered with utmost confidence, Neeson certainly seems to be getting into the groove of policing, or perhaps falling.

What to Know About The Naked Gun 2025

Filming is currently underway at Montreal’s Place des Arts with more news to be revealed on the production soon.

No word on where The Naked Gun 2025 will debut or stream on yet. If past sequels are anything to go by, a streaming release might be in the cards. The third film was originally made for syndication (as the first two Naked Gun films were, initially), while the 2016 Kung Fury installment has found a home exclusively on Netflix. We’ll be sure to update you when we hear more.

The humor is likely not to everyone’s taste—it’s expansive, punny, and delightfully silly—but it’s all the things that film and comedy fans loved about the first two Naked Gun entries. The Naked Gun 2025 looks to be ready to bring a little dose of glorious summer nostalgia to movie theaters this summer.