A Liam Neeson-starring reboot of the Naked Gun franchise is back on track at Paramount, with the studio announcing a July 15, 2025, release date today.
The reboot will be directed and executive produced by Lonely Island's Akiva Schaffer, who co-wrote the draft script with his Chip n' Dale: Rescue Rangers collaborators Dan Gregor and Doug Man. The film is being produced by Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane and Erica Huggins' production company Fuzzy Door.
News of the latest Naked Gun first circulated in 2009, with reports of The Naked Gun: What 4? The Rhythm of Evil being in development. However, it was apparently lost to development hell, and original star Leslie Nielsen passed away in 2010.
In 2014, reports of a reboot cropped up, with The Hangover actor Ed Helms reported to star as Nielsen’s character Frank Drebin. However, in 2021, Neeson told People magazine that McFarlane and Paramount Studios approached him with to star in The Naked Gun reboot. Now, roughly 14 years after reports of Naked Gun 4, The Naked Gun reboot has evolved from casting rumor to a sure thing.
According to Deadline, Neeson comitted to staring in the role after being approached by MacFarlane, who he worked with on other films like Ted 2, The Orville, and A Million Ways To Die In The West. At the time, the Taken actor was thinking about retiring from acting, telling People, "It'll either finish my career or bring it in another direction. I honestly don't know."
The Naked Gun is an irreverent slapstick comedy following the exploits of Lieutenant Frank Drebin (Nielsen) as he seeks to uncover the culprit behind a nefarious plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth in Los Angeles. The first film came out in 1988, spawning a number of sequels and even a short-lived TV show.
In our review for The Naked Gun 2012 Blu-ray release, which we gave a 7, we wrote "The Naked Gun isn't quite as solid as Airplane!, but it's a very funny spoof of your traditional cop drama/film noir driven by Leslie Nielsen's dynamic straight-faced performance."
Paramount also announced a number of other release dates ahead of its earnings report today, including the sequel for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.
Isaiah Colbert is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow them on Twitter @ShinEyeZehUhh.
