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The original director of The Naked Gun, David Zucker, has renewed his verbal assault concerning the recent reboot featuring Liam Neeson, following a short period where he seemed to soften his stance following the premiere of the film's cinema debut.

Director's Disapproval of the Reboot's Comedy Approach

In a recent interview, Zucker expressed that Seth MacFarlane, the creative force behind the new Naked Gun and previously the director and co-writer of the Ted movies, "totally missed" the spoof-comedy style that Zucker, along with his partners Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams, popularized in Airplane! and the initial trilogy of Naked Gun films.

"Jerry, my sibling, and Jim Abrahams, our associate, began creating spoof comedies five decades in the past, and we originated our own style – and we did that so well that it looks easy, clearly. Others began imitating it, like the new film's producer for the new Naked Gun. He totally missed it."

Zucker continued: "It can look like we're just randomly trying ideas to see what sticks, but we're not. There's thought behind it."

Leslie Nielsen's Legacy

The director further stated that it was pointless to produce the film without Leslie Nielsen, who played Frank Drebin and passed away in 2010, remarking: "They tried to replace Leslie Nielsen in the new Naked Gun, and you can't replace him. Nobody else is capable of that."

Earlier Objections and Changing Stance

Zucker had previously objected to the decision to proceed with a Naked Gun reboot, remarking last year that he was "not enthusiastic regarding having the franchise given to other people". Adding: "They have not contacted me to appear briefly or be involved in the writing. Whether or not they're going to succeed with it, this style of parody, I mean it isn't overly complex, but it is challenging."

Nonetheless, after a series of favorable critiques and strong box office returns after its release in August, Zucker adopted a more agreeable stance, commenting: "I'm excited about it because it just shows that there's a healthy audience for comedy in movie theatres, and spoof in particular."

Return to Criticism Over Budget Concerns

However, Zucker returned to the attack in the recent discussion, questioning the financial investment. "Large financial outlays and humor are incompatible, and in the new Naked Gun, you could see that they invested heavily on scenes full of technical pizzazz while trying to copy our style."

He added: "Everybody's in it for the money now, and that seems to be the sole motivation why they decided to produce a new Naked Gun."