Naked Gun Fans Divided Over Trailer, Anticipate August Release

Some things never go out of style. Slapstick humor, particularly of the police procedural variety, will always have an audience, which is why the comedy franchise The Naked Gun will be back in theaters next year for the first time in three decades. The Naked Gun: The Fatal Assassin is slated to hit theaters August 1, 2025, and will star The Force Awakens actor Liam Neeson in the role of late Frank Drebin’s son.

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, released in 1988, quickly became a cult hit for its self-parody crime comedy. The movie starred Leslie Nielsen as the hapless but well-meaning Detective Frank Drebin, who is assigned to foil a plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II during her state visit to the United States. Audiences loved the film’s insane antics, leading to two more Naked Gun films. 1991’s The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear again found Drebin and his team working to prevent an attempt to kidnap one of the world’s leading nuclear physicists. Naked Gun 33¼: The Final Insult, the third film in the franchise, was released in 1994. In it, Drebin is out of retirement when a plan to blow up the Academy Awards ceremonies by planting a bomb in the Oscar statue is set in motion.

Plans to continue the franchise stalled after 1994, but 2025’s reboot will mark the first time Drebin has returned since Naked Gun 33¼. In 2013, Paramount Pictures and The Office actor Ed Helms were interested in a reboot, with Helms to star as “Frank Drebin, no relation.” But the reboot stalled, with the original producer and Naked Gun 2 and Naked Gun 33¼ director David Zucker declining to be involved with a reboot that “can’t compare, would be inferior, and people will know that it’s inferior.” He and the franchise would reunite briefly in 2017 when Zucker helped to rework a draft of a film that would have seen Drebin’s son as a secret agent whose father by none other than the action-hero version of Liam Neeson.

Fast forward to 2021, when Seth MacFarlane was attached to the project, and Zucker had walked away for good, a new and “in-universe” reboot was on the table. This time, Liam Neeson was cast as Frank Drebin Jr., Frank Sr.’s son and a lieutenant with the Police Squad who’s no less clumsy or incompetent than his father was.

Paul Walter Hauser and Pamela Anderson Join The Naked Gun’s New Lineup

Paul Walter Hauser is the cast’s next best-known actor, playing Captain Ed Hocken, Jr., son of Drebin Sr.’s good-natured partner and best friend. Hauser’s many upcoming roles include his turn as the Mole Man in the new Fantastic Four film Fantastic Four: First Steps, in theaters this December. Pamela Anderson will also appear in the film, playing a femme fatale named Beth. Her brother has been murdered, and if Drebin Jr. doesn’t solve the case, the Police Squad will be closed down, according to the teaser trailer. Her role as Beth will find her acting like a classic bombshell, with a bevy of red-and-black one-piece swimsuits and spike heels. Rounding out the film’s impressive cast are Kevin Durand, Danny Huston, Liza Koshy, Cody Rhodes, CCH Pounder, Busta Rhymes, and Eddy Yu.

After a theatrical run delayed by COVID-19, the first teaser trailer dropped in April. Reaction from fans was lukewarm, with David Zucker, who remains protective of the franchise to this day, commenting that “I just regret that I saw it. I can’t unsee it. I hope people just know to never click on a link I send them.” There are some positives. Neeson is fully on board with the franchise’s screwballery, spoofing his Taken brand of deadpan stoicism. In one scene, the police lieutenant maniacally recites, “Once you kill a man for revenge, there’s no going back,” before dismembering his attacker by ripping his arms off and beating him with them. “A voice in your head saying over and over, ‘That was awesome,’” Drebin concludes.

The new film is not without some “dad” moments, either. The trailer features a visibly moved Frank Jr. and Ed Jr. in front of plaques commemorating their fathers’ work and legacy. Though when this film’s duo return to their detectives’ desks, it’s not out of respect for the family business but, as Ed Jr. says of Drebin’s father, “what a senseless waste of talent.” Following that sentiment, Drebin Sr. and Jr.’s desks are juxtaposed in one shot, with Sr. (Nielsen) lounging and smoking, while Jr. (Neeson) is in handcuffs.

The humor has always been simple, however. It’s clear the plot is secondary to the gags, and if this first trailer is any indication, the antics have not let up much. In the trailer, Frank Drebin, Jr., is seen working to help his mother’s friend Beth solve her brother’s murder, but if Drebin can’t crack the case, the Police Squad will be shut down. Beth’s murder suspect, when taken into custody, claims to have done 20 years in prison for “man’s laughter.” The suspect is corrected that it was “manslaughter,” to which Drebin replies, “Must have been quite the joke.”

If you’ve seen the trailer, you know there are many like it. From breaking into a coffee shop to use the bathroom stall to “conduct police business” to “Boom. Time for justice!” all with the signature Drebin stare, Neeson looks ready to don the badge, or at least fall while wearing it.

So, when this film’s trailer was described by one commenter as “eerily similar to Boogie Nights,” you could cut the eye-rolling with a knife. This doesn’t make the jokes less painful for humorophiles or less common among the hacks at Netflix. (If you haven’t already, do check out our list of the funniest Netflix comedies right here.) The humor here is for simpletons: puns, slapstick, cheese, jokes, boobs. You get it. The Naked Gun was always about bad jokes and worse crimes, and if you loved it before, there’s something in The Naked Gun 2025 for you.