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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, after briefly appearing to adopt a more conciliatory tone in the aftermath of the film's cinema debut.

Zucker's Critique of the Reboot's Comedy Approach

In a recent interview, Zucker expressed that Seth MacFarlane, the producer behind the new Naked Gun and previously the director and co-writer of the Ted movies, "completely failed to grasp" the parody genre approach that Zucker, together with his collaborators Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams, made famous 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 developed a unique approach – and we executed it so effectively that it looks easy, clearly. People started copying it, like the new film's producer for the recent reboot. He totally missed it."

He added: "It might appear that we're just throwing stuff up against the wall to see what sticks, but we're not. There's thought behind it."

The Irreplaceable Star

Zucker added that it was pointless to make the movie without Leslie Nielsen, who played Frank Drebin and who died in 2010, saying: "They attempted to substitute Leslie Nielsen in the new Naked Gun, and he cannot be replaced. No one else can do that."

Earlier Objections and Shifting Tone

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 different individuals". He continued: "They have not contacted me to appear briefly or participate in scripting. Regardless of if they're going to do a good job with it, this kind of spoof, I mean it's not rocket science, but it is challenging."

Nonetheless, after a series of favorable critiques and impressive financial performance after its release in August, Zucker adopted a more agreeable stance, saying: "I am pleased by it because it just demonstrates there's a strong market for comedy in cinemas, and parody specifically."

Return to Criticism Over Financial Aspects

However, Zucker resumed his criticism in the new interview, questioning the financial investment. "Big budgets and comedy are opposites, 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: "Financial motives drive everyone currently, and that seems to be the sole motivation why they wanted to do a new Naked Gun."