Paramount has released the official trailer for The Naked Gun, a reboot of the beloved comedy franchise — this time led by Liam Neeson as Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. The film, directed by Akiva Schaffer (Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers), arrives in cinemas this August. Take a look above.
Inheriting the legacy of his late father’s Police Squad, Drebin Jr. is once again caught up in a wildly exaggerated battle to save the world, though not without getting tangled in plenty of absurd situations along the way. The trailer delivers a barrage of visual gags and deadpan one-liners, with Neeson throwing himself into the ridiculousness — whether it’s accidentally ripping a man’s arms off and slapping him with them, or racing frantically to make it to the bathroom on time.
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Pamela Anderson co-stars as femme fatale Beth, who informs Drebin, “I think someone murdered my brother,” setting the plot into motion. “Please, take a chair,” he tells her. “Thank you,” she responds, dragging out a chair with her as she leaves. The trailer offers quick glimpses of their sexually charged — and highly ridiculous — dynamic, while supporting characters drop in for their share of the chaos. At one point, Drebin misreads a file while interviewing a suspect (Busta Rhymes, making an appearance): “It says you’ve served 20 years for man’s laughter. Must have been quite the joke.”
The cast also includes Paul Walter Hauser, CCH Pounder, Kevin Durand, Cody Rhodes, Liza Koshy, Eddie Yu, and go-to villain Danny Huston. The reboot is produced by Seth MacFarlane and Erica Huggins, with a screenplay from Dan Gregor, Doug Mand, and director Akiva Schaffer (who, by the way, is also a member of comedy trio The Lonely Island).
Based on the original Naked Gun films and the Police Squad! television series created by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker, the film franchise first began in 1988 with The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! starring Leslie Nielsen. Two sequels followed: The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991) and Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994).
The Naked Gun opens in U.S. cinemas on August 1st and Australian cinemas on August 21st.
