#The Naked Gun Reboot Wants Liam Neeson in the Lead

Aged action star Liam Neeson has revealed that he is in talks to potentially headline a remake of beloved crime spoof The Naked Gun, with the actor being eyed to step into the role of Detective Frank Drebin, a role previously played to perfection by Leslie Nielsen. While discussing his future as the face of aged action movies, Neeson divulged a few minor details regarding the project.

“I’ve been approached by Seth McFarlane and Paramount Studios to maybe resurrect the Naked Gun films.”

RELATED: Leslie Nielsen Tribute Video Celebrates Comedy Legacy of the Naked Gun Star
So, it sounds like Liam Neeson could well move away from action movies and into comedy, a move that could “either finish my career or bring it in another direction. I honestly don’t know,” joked the actor. Neeson has worked alongside MacFarlane on several occasions in the past, on projects such as the western comedy A Million Ways to Die in the West, and comedy sequel Ted 2, as well as on McFarlane’s small screen outings like Family Guy, and The Orville, so the two reuniting for a Naked Gun remake is not far beyond the realms of possibility.

The The Naked Gun remake would also not be without precedent, with McFarlane stating in the past that a Naked Gun-like remake starring Liam Neeson is something that he would love to do. Ed Helms was also once considered for the lead. “Generally with dramatic actors they do kinda like the idea of coming in and doing a comedy to show they can do comedy,” McFarlane said back in 2015. “Liam is great with comedy. I don’t know whether you’ve ever seen his Ricky Gervais sketch? Liam is awesome. My dream at some point would be to do an entire movie with Liam where he does a Leslie Nielson Naked Gun kinda thing. Because he’s so good at playing against the comedy and therefore he’s hilarious. He just really knows what he’s doing.”

Though Neeson recently claimed to be considering retirement from the action genre that he has so successfully excelled in during this latter stage of his career, with the actor saying he’ll soon be gunning down bad guys while “on a Zimmer frame”, the actor still has several more explosive outings in the pipeline.

Neeson is currently lighting up the screen in The Marksman, which finds the actor in familiar territory as an ex-Marine rancher who is forced to once again rely on his particular set of skills in order to thwart a gang of cartel assassins. Directed by Robert Lorenz, who is best known for his frequent collaborations with Hollywood icon Clint Eastwood, The Marksman stars Katheryn Winnick as Sarah Pennington, Juan Pablo Raba as Maurico, Teresa Ruiz as Rosa, Jacob Perez as Miguel, and Luce Rains as Everett Crawford alongside Neeson as Jim Hanson.

Neeson has also signed on to star in the thriller Retribution for Studiocanal, The Picture Company and Jaume Collet-Serra’s Ombra Productions. The movie is a remake of a 2015 Spanish flick El Desconcido about an unassuming businessman who finds himself pushed to his limits after receiving a phone call telling him that there’s a bomb in his car and he needs to do exactly what the bomber says or else it will explode. Of course, because things aren’t already tough enough for Neeson, his two children are also in the car.

With a patented Neeson-esque tough guy spin on proceedings, the actor could certainly pull-off the lead role in a remake of The Naked Gun, but does it really need one? This comes to us from People.

Topics: The Naked Gun