‘I can’t get mad at anyone who tells me I’m a genius’: original Naked Gun director softens response to reboot | Movies

David Zucker, who co-created the Police Squad! and Naked Gun franchises and directed the first two films starring Leslie Nielsen, has reacted to the warm critical reception and healthy box office takings of the reboot starring Liam Neeson.

Zucker had previously expressed scepticism and even anger about the direction the new film appeared to be taking, and the decision by the studio not to include him in the process.

But speaking to the Hollywood Reporter in the wake of strong ticket sales and robust reviews for the Akiva Schaffer reboot, Zucker appeared more conciliatory.

“People are liking it, which is great,” he said. “I really like the director, and I just couldn’t wish him more well. I texted him already, saying, ‘I hear the reviews are great, and it’s tracking well.’ He was very happy to hear from me, and we’ll probably get together later in the month when the smoke clears.”

He continued: “I’m excited about it because it just shows that there’s a strong market for comedy in movie theatres, and spoof in particular.”

Last year, the director was less enthusiastic, saying of the reboot: “Paramount is just going ahead and doing it, they haven’t involved me. They’re just gonna do what they want, that’s Hollywood.” Zucker and the franchise’s other co-creators, including his brother Jerry Zucker, had previously pitched a fourth-instalment script focusing on the thirtysomething son of the main character Frank Drebin, but it was rejected by the studio.

“We were not excited about having the franchise given to other people,” he continued. “They have not contacted me to make a cameo 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’s not rocket science, but it’s not easy.”

Earlier this year, Zucker reiterated his disapproval, saying he was “not planning on seeing the Naked Gun remake”.

“I regret having seen the trailer for it,” he continued, before comparing the promo to a 2007 Brazilian pornographic film. “It’s like watching 2 Girls 1 Cup. I can’t unsee it.”

Despite his turnaround, Zucker reiterated his aversion to seeing the film to Hollywood Reporter, but said that the team behind it had reached out to him before its release.

“I’m not gonna see it, but I don’t see any of the sequels that were of my material done by other people, and that’s fine. I’ve told Akiva that I have no intention to see it,” he said.

“He actually invited me to come see an early cut of it, but I told him there’s nothing I could do to help because it really isn’t what I would have done. That’s not to say that he didn’t actually end up doing a good movie. But I don’t think I could help with that.”

Zucker added that producer Seth MacFarlane had phoned him shortly after the new script had been completed.

“He spent the first 10 minutes telling me how much he loved Airplane!, The Naked Gun and Top Secret!,” said Zucker. “I can’t get mad at anyone who will tell me what a genius I am. That was a good conversation. I was glad that Seth called, but I told him politely, ‘Good luck, but I can’t put my name on this.’ [But] everything happens for a reason.”

The new Naked Gun film stars Neeson as Frank Drebin Jr, alongside Pamela Anderson and Danny Huston. In his four-star review, the Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw praised it as “amiably ridiculous, refreshingly shallow, entirely pointless and guilelessly crass”.