{"id":40678,"date":"2025-08-02T01:14:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-02T01:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/40678\/"},"modified":"2025-08-02T01:14:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-02T01:14:10","slug":"naked-gun-reboot-only-features-one-o-j-simpson-joke-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/40678\/","title":{"rendered":"Naked Gun Reboot Only Features One O.J. Simpson Joke, Here’s Why"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tWriter-director Akiva Schaffer<\/a> initially thought a reboot of The Naked Gun<\/a> was blasphemous until he realized the full potential of having Liam Neeson step into the shoes of Leslie Nielsen.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn 2021, producer Seth MacFarlane was tasked with reinventing ZAZ\u2019s (Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker) beloved spoof comedy franchise after three decades and a few failed revivals along the way. The Family Guy creator\u2019s first order of business was to attach Neeson, whom he\u2019d worked with on A Million Ways to Die in the West and Ted 2.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tFrom there, MacFarlane\u2019s president at Fuzzy Door Productions, Erica Huggins, handled the director search, which quickly led her to Schaffer, due to the warm reception he\u2019d just received for Chip \u2018n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022). Of course, she was also a fan of his 2016 cult hit, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, as well as his longtime comedy trio, The Lonely Island, consisting of childhood friends Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone.<\/p>\n

\n\tSchaffer\u2019s commitment didn\u2019t come automatically. He insisted on a page-one rewrite of a script that a couple Family Guy writers had written. Even MacFarlane himself has referred to that iteration as too much of a \u201ccover band version\u201d of 1988\u2019s The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! Schaffer also wanted his Rescue Rangers writers, Dan Gregor and Doug Mand, to help him pen a new take, one that didn\u2019t overly play the hits of the original Naked Gun trilogy, such as the cherished opening credits featuring composer Ira Newborn\u2019s Naked Gun and Police Squad! theme. The compromise was to place it in the closing credits.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI love the siren opening in the first three Naked Gun movies just like everyone else loves it, but that doesn\u2019t mean I need to see it again. And I did get a lot of pushback on that, I\u2019ll be honest,\u201d Schaffer tells The Hollywood Reporter. \u201cThat opening was spoofing M Squad, and I\u2019m not [spoofing] a Lee Marvin 1950s TV show anymore. I was like, \u2018Our opening credits should feel like Terminator 2.\u2019 We\u2019re [spoofing] now, but anything from 1990 till now was also open season.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen Schaffer informed his friends that he was tackling a new Naked Gun, the first question everyone asked involved the manner in which he would handle O.J. Simpson\u2019s Naked Gun character, Nordberg. Thus, during the first week of writing, Schaffer and co. wrote the \u201cHall of Legends\u201d scene that was prominently featured in the film\u2019s first teaser<\/a>. Neeson\u2019s Frank Drebin Jr. and Paul Walter Hauser\u2019s Ed Hocken Jr. pay tribute to framed photos of Nielsen\u2019s Drebin Sr. and George Kennedy\u2019s Hocken Sr., before cutting wide to reveal a total of ten cops giving tearful salutes to their late parents.<\/p>\n

\n\tThen the camera transitions to a framed portrait of Simpson\u2019s Nordberg, prompting Moses Jones\u2019 Nordberg Jr. to break the fourth wall, shake his head and not deliver his own sentimental moment. The joke took the internet by storm, and anytime the teaser or trailer played at movie theaters, the moment always set off a big reaction. But to his credit, Schaffer never strummed that chord again due to the controversy that continues to swirl around a figure as notorious as the late Simpson.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cTo be honest, we never wrote another O.J. joke. We just went, \u2018Yep, that takes care of that,\u2019\u201d Schaffer says. \u201cI didn\u2019t know that the joke would kill as hard as it did at our first test screening. If I had known that, then maybe I would\u2019ve written other jokes. But you want to be respectful of everything that revolves around him, so it\u2019s not something I really took glee in. We just had to acknowledge it in a way we thought was not dancing on anybody\u2019s misfortunes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBelow, during a recent conversation with THR, Schaffer also discusses how Neeson and Pamela Anderson ended up being paired together in the now critically acclaimed reboot, as well as the currently fragile state of the studio comedy.<\/p>\n

\n\t***<\/p>\n

\n\tA fourth Naked Gun installment has gone through quite the development journey the last 16 years. Once you joined in the fall of 2022 for this iteration, what was the key to finally getting it up and running?<\/p>\n

\n\tWell, Liam had already been attached for quite some time. I remember reading about it at some point and being a little jealous. I was like, \u201cOoh, that\u2019s a good idea.\u201d So when I got the incoming call, the Liam part of it definitely piqued my interest. But if it was just, \u201cHey, what\u2019s your take on a new Naked Gun?\u201d I would\u2019ve been like, \u201cOf course not. The first Naked Gun is so good, and there\u2019s no room to make it better. You can only do different.\u201d But the Liam part was like, \u201cOoh, I see my version of it at least,\u201d which is now what\u2019s in theaters.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tDirector Akiva Schaffer, Liam Neeson and Paul Walter Hauser on the set of The Naked Gun (2025).<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tParamount Pictures<\/p>\n

\n\tBut despite Liam\u2019s involvement, the project still hadn\u2019t moved forward, so how did you get the ball rolling?<\/p>\n

\n\tThey had an existing script, but I don\u2019t think they were trying to make that version of it. I read that script, and no offense to it, but it was not the version I would want to make. So the meeting was more of a meeting where I went, \u201cHey, if this is going to be me, I\u2019m super excited, but I would start from scratch. This is my version of the movie \u2026\u201d I then laid out, not the story or anything, but the styles of jokes and how I would want it to feel, look and sound.<\/p>\n

\n\tOnce they bought into that and thought it was a good idea, then I was like, \u201cOh, I need writers to do it with me. I don\u2019t think anyone can write this kind of movie alone.\u201d I\u2019d just had a really good experience with Dan Gregor and Doug Mand on Chip \u2018n Dale: Rescue Rangers. So I asked the studio first if it would be cool, and when they said yes, I went to them and said, \u201cI have a motivated studio that says we have Liam Neeson wanting to do a Naked Gun. We just don\u2019t have a movie. It\u2019s so rare that we don\u2019t have to talk them into anything. They want to do it, but what they don\u2019t have is a director and a script. If we treat this seriously, I think we could get it made. I\u2019m going to be a third of your writing team, though.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSo we joined forces, and we treated it like a green-lit movie or a TV show. We went into my office Monday through Friday and worked on it as if we were filming it no matter what. That\u2019s how you keep momentum going on a movie like this. If we had just done development, we\u2019d still be writing it, but we just treated it like we had to make it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThis would\u2019ve been long before your tenure, but is it true that there was once a version where Andy Samberg was supposed to play Frank Drebin\u2019s 30-something son?<\/p>\n

\n\tIf there was, it was news to him. He saw the same press you\u2019re referring to and he went, \u201cWhat!?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe precarious state of the theatrical comedy has been widely discussed the last few years, and your market<\/a>i<\/a>ng<\/a> had some fun with it as well. IndieWire<\/a> went as far to say that The Naked Gun, in terms of its genre, is this summer\u2019s most important movie. Have you tried to ignore this notion that the next five years of the studio comedy might be determined by your movie?<\/p>\n

\n\tYes, and I liked reading that article. It\u2019s a fun article to write, and it\u2019s a fun thing to talk about. But journalists like you who do this for a living and have a bird\u2019s-eye view of the industry are better equipped to talk about the real ebbs and flows and why comedy is at such a place, theatrically, and what the hopes are.<\/p>\n

\n\tOverall, I almost equate it to one of those fake stories, like, \u201cCan female-led movies be box office smashes?\u201d I\u2019m sure they told that story around the release of 9 to 5 [in 1980], and then they were like, \u201cI guess women-led movies can make money.\u201d [Note: 9 to 5 grossed over $100 million against $10 million, which was largely unheard of in 1980.] And when Bridesmaids became the best comedy of the last 20 years, they were like, \u201cWhoa!\u201d Then there\u2019s Girls Trip and Barbie.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s the same story over and over. If it\u2019s a fantastic movie, then any movie can be a [box-office hit]. So I really hope The Naked Gun works, but if it works, I don\u2019t necessarily know what it changes.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tPamela Anderson\u2019s Beth Davenport and Liam Neeson\u2019s Frank Drebin Jr. in The Naked Gun.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tParamount Pictures<\/p>\n

\n\tWhoever had the idea to pair Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson must be patting themself on the back right now.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t(Schaffer smiles.)<\/p>\n

\n\tThey\u2019re truly great together in the film. I know Liam was the top choice from day one, but how did Pam enter the mix months before The Last Showgirl\u2019s release?<\/p>\n

\n\tWe wrote the entire script not knowing who anybody else would be besides Liam. And when it came time for casting, the question of Beth, our femme fatale, was a really difficult one. Spoof is not an easy skill. You could be an Oscar-winning actor, and you could be terrible at spoof. You can also be an Oscar-nominated actor like Liam Neeson and be wonderful at it. I\u2019m just saying that it\u2019s not the norm. You\u2019re not judging by the same metrics. The actor has to be able to play something so stupid in a way where it seems like they don\u2019t know they\u2019re telling a joke.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t[Naked Gun creators] The Zuckers have said it better, and I always end up paraphrasing and saying it wrong, but you don\u2019t play it straight. You don\u2019t play it stiff. You play it real. If your character is happy, you\u2019re smiling. If your character is sad, you\u2019re sad. You\u2019re not playing it overly serious; you\u2019re just playing the scenes. You don\u2019t know that what you\u2019re saying are jokes or are supposed to be funny. But that\u2019s really hard to do. Most actors will telegraph the joke a bit and know they\u2019re being funny.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut Pam has the thing that Priscilla Presley had. She can say the UCLA joke with a little twinkle in her eye, and you really believe the character is playing at the height of her intelligence. The character has no clue that what she\u2019s saying is not the right thing to say. So we just got lucky that she wanted to do it and was so right for it. At certain points, Beth was almost a bunch of other people until we realized Pam was there and could do it.<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to the internet, Pam said no to Naked Gun 33 1\/3: The Final Insult (1994). Did you ever ask her if this was true?<\/p>\n

\n\tI only learned that in the last couple of weeks, and I\u2019ve seen some interviews of her being asked that. She was like, \u201cI think that\u2019s blown out [of proportion]. It just came across my desk at some point, and I couldn\u2019t do it for various reasons. I don\u2019t know that they were offering it to me.\u201d Now I\u2019m paraphrasing her interview that I saw, but I don\u2019t think it was exact.<\/p>\n

\n\tShe was in Scary Movie 3, which was honestly a hit against her in my mind. I wanted everybody to be such a surprise, but I love that she\u2019s the encapsulation of this movie in terms of her life. She seems like somebody that would\u2019ve been in one of the \u201890s movies, and that\u2019s so nice because it gives authenticity to the vibe. She\u2019s also in this amazing second act of her career that is totally new and completely different. It\u2019s just like what Liam\u2019s Frank Jr. says [to Frank Sr.\u2019s picture] in the beginning of the movie: \u201cI want to be just like you, but at the same time, be completely different and original.\u201d She embodies that trajectory.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tLiam Neeson\u2019s Frank Drebin Jr. and Kevin Durand\u2019s Sig Gustafson in Akiva Schaffer\u2019s The Naked Gun.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tParamount Pictures<\/p>\n

\n\tThere\u2019s a couple of Mission: Impossible jokes, such as the little girl disguise that Liam\u2019s character wears at the start. You\u2019ve also got three layers of what Mission filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie calls \u201cmousetraps.\u201d<\/a> They\u2019re staged environments that are meant to force a confession.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tI wish I had known what to call them.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou\u2019ve even got former Mission composer Lorne Balfe scoring the film like it\u2019s a Mission movie in certain places. There\u2019s also some Dark Knight-sounding score in the opening bank robbery \u2026<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd Jerry Goldsmith vibes throughout.<\/p>\n

\n\tOverall, did Paramount encourage this type of franchise synergy?<\/p>\n

\n\tNo, but they didn\u2019t discourage it. I am such a huge fan of all the Mission: Impossible movies, but specifically Fallout, which has that hospital mousetrap<\/a>. Fallout is just one of the best globetrotting spy thrillers or action-spy films. It might be the best one of all time \u2014\u00a0that and Casino Royale, if you even consider them the same genre. It seems like they are. So I would say those are the two best ever made, and [our spoofs] were definitely made with love.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tBut those mousetraps are hilarious because if you suspend disbelief for one second, the IMF is essentially those three guys [Ethan, Benji, Luther] and whoever else is along for the ride. They are usually operating rogue and under some sort of pressure. And somehow, they can still build a completely functioning hospital set with lighting and hinged walls for dramatic reveals. There are so many cinematic choices that are so perfect for [The Naked Gun], and being my favorite movie, [spoofing it] was just perfect on every level.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tThe Naked Gun\u2018s \u2018Hall of Legends\u201d Scene<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tParamount Pictures<\/p>\n

\n\tThe O.J. Simpson\/Nordberg joke that was featured in the first teaser<\/a> really struck a chord, and while you could\u2019ve gone back to that well many times, did you and your co-writers decide that one showstopping joke was enough?<\/p>\n

\n\tWe didn\u2019t get pushback or anything. On the edgy jokes, people would go, \u201cOoh, I don\u2019t know.\u201d And I\u2019d be like, \u201cDon\u2019t worry. The movie is going to be 85 minutes. A fourth of the script is getting cut. Anything that doesn\u2019t work is going to be cut.\u201d So that\u2019s the way I made everyone relax all the time. [Writer\u2019s Note: The 85-minute runtime was meant to mirror the first two Naked Gun movies\u2019 85-minute runtimes. The third film is 82 minutes.]<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen I first told friends, \u201cHey, I\u2019m actually about to write a Naked Gun,\u201d they\u2019d go, \u201cWhat are you going to do about O.J?\u201d So, right away, I was like, \u201cOh, right. That\u2019s the elephant in the room that has to be addressed.\u201d The Hall of Legends scene that was in the teaser then answers everything. Is Frank going to be Frank Sr.? Is he going to be replacing Leslie Nielsen and trying to be Leslie Nielsen? No, he\u2019s going to be Frank Jr., and it\u2019s Liam. He\u2019s going to lean into what he\u2019s known for. How\u2019s it going to look? What\u2019s the music going to be like? It\u2019s all right there, and it was all stuff that was written in the first week as we were asking ourselves those questions.<\/p>\n

\n\tTo be honest, we never wrote another O.J. joke. We just went, \u201cYep, that takes care of that.\u201d That\u2019s all it ever was. I didn\u2019t know that the joke would kill as hard as it did at our first test screening, and I was like, \u201cOh, it\u2019s really good. This audience loves it.\u201d If I had known that, then maybe I would\u2019ve written other jokes. I don\u2019t know. But it already felt like it was pushing. You want to be respectful of everything that revolves around him, so it\u2019s not something I really took glee in. We just had to acknowledge it in a way we thought was not dancing on anybody\u2019s misfortunes.<\/p>\n

\n\tLegacy sequels often go for low-hanging fruit, and I respect that you never referenced Enrico Pallazzo<\/a> or created another \u201cnothing to see here\u201d<\/a> gag. In general, what was your philosophy regarding callbacks and references to the original trilogy?<\/p>\n

\n\tAs a viewer, I just don\u2019t get a lot out of [legacy sequels]. There\u2019s a lot of great sequels out there, not legacy sequels, like 22 Jump Street. They did a great job, and it doesn\u2019t repeat anything from 21 Jump Street except for the same characters going on a new adventure. That\u2019s the same of Lethal Weapon 2 or Beverly Hills Cop II or Die Hard with a Vengeance. It\u2019s a whole new movie starring John McClane. He\u2019s the same cop and it\u2019s still Die Hard, but it\u2019s just a great action movie.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe trap that a lot of legacy sequels fall into is they\u2019re trying to do a Mad Libs of the original movie. \u201cWe did that big fight scene, so what\u2019s our big fight scene this time?\u201d And then you end up not really even remembering that you watched it. It\u2019s like it doesn\u2019t really exist. It feels like fan fiction because it\u2019s the same movie again with different people or the same people. I don\u2019t want to shit on them because I enjoy them and watch them as much as everybody else, but I can\u2019t tell you what happened in any of them. I\u2019m racking my brain for one that did it right. Do you have one?<\/p>\n

\n\tCreed would be one. There\u2019s some familiar story points from the Rocky films, and Stallone has a major role, but it\u2019s still well done.<\/p>\n

\n\tCreed is the perfect example. Ryan Coogler is a genius, and he made his own movie. So, in a similar way, I\u2019m trying to Creed this movie.<\/p>\n

\n\tI love the siren opening in the first three Naked Gun movies just like everyone else loves it, but that doesn\u2019t mean I need to see it again. If I want to see it, I have three movies to watch. Ours would just be another one with different places. [Ira Newborn\u2019s] theme is my favorite music, but then it would just be that music again. You have three other movies to hear that music. I still do it at the end of the movie because I would feel like I hadn\u2019t quite seen Naked Gun if I didn\u2019t get to hear that music and see that siren, but that wasn\u2019t the version I was interested in making. And I did get a lot of pushback on that, I\u2019ll be honest. I was like, \u201cNo, my opening credits are spoofing a genre.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThat opening [that originated on Police Squad!] was spoofing M Squad, and I\u2019m not doing a Lee Marvin 1950s TV show anymore. I have noir elements like Double Indemnity and In a Lonely Place and L.A. Confidential in there. It\u2019s all part of the DNA that makes Naked Gun, Naked Gun. But I was like, \u201cOur opening credits should feel like Terminator 2.\u201d We\u2019re [spoofing] now, but anything from 1990 till now was also open season. That first movie was in 1988, so I figured that anything after that is for us to do now.<\/p>\n

\n\t[The following question\/answer contains a spoiler.] Priscilla Presley returns to the franchise in a cameo. Was her appearance always a foregone conclusion?<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was always something we wanted. But because we weren\u2019t shooting in L.A. and I didn\u2019t know where to put it, it was not something we accomplished until we came back to L.A. and did some shooting here. So I\u2019m very happy she did it. It\u2019s huge for us.<\/p>\n

\n\tWell, I hope to see you in a couple years for your version of The Naked Gun 2\u00bd. (Note: Schaffer was sporting a Naked Gun 2\u00bd hat throughout this interview.)<\/p>\n

\n\tNaked Gun 2\u00bd 2?<\/p>\n

\n\tNaked Gun 2\u00bd x 2?<\/p>\n

\n\tIs that the title?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tMaybe. I\u2019m knocking on wood either way.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t(Scaffer also knocks on wood.) Yeah, I hope people will show up, but I\u2019m very happy that the reception has been positive. I\u2019m feeling relieved.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t***
The Naked Gun is now playing in movie theaters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Writer-director Akiva Schaffer initially thought a reboot of The Naked Gun was blasphemous until he realized the full…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40679,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[24675,49,48,75,23993],"class_list":{"0":"post-40678","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-akiva-schaffer","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-the-naked-gun"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40678\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}