The Naked Gun (2025 film)

The Naked Gun
Multiple hands hold onto Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. (Liam Neeson)'s body while one of Drebin Jr.'s hands hold a pistol, a woman's back, and her left leg. Tagline on top reads "Look out crime. He's fully armed."
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAkiva Schaffer
Written by
Based on
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyBrandon Trost
Edited byBrian Scott Olds
Music byLorne Balfe
Production
company
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release dates
  • July 28, 2025 (2025-07-28) (SVA Theater)
  • August 1, 2025 (2025-08-01) (United States)
Running time
85 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$42 million[2]
Box office$76 million[3][4]

The Naked Gun is a 2025 American action crime comedy film directed by Akiva Schaffer, who co-wrote the screenplay along with Dan Gregor and Doug Mand. A legacy sequel to Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult (1994) and the fourth film in The Naked Gun franchise, the film stars Liam Neeson in the main role, with Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, Kevin Durand, and Danny Huston co-starring in supporting roles. Its plot follows the son of Lt. Frank Drebin who must succeed in his father's footsteps to prevent the closure of Police Squad.

A fourth The Naked Gun film was originally announced in 2009, as a direct-to-TV sequel starring Leslie Nielsen, and Alan Spencer was attached to write the film; however, the project was cancelled due to Spencer's departure. After a languishing through several years of development, including being redeveloped as a reboot starring Ed Helms in 2013, it was officially announced in January 2021 that Seth MacFarlane had been hired to develop the project, and he expressed interest in casting Neeson in the main role. Although MacFarlane was hired to direct, Schaffer replaced him after the film was greenlit in October 2022, and Neeson was officially cast in the main role. Anderson was cast in April 2024, and further casting took place the following month. Filming began in Atlanta that month and wrapped in June.

The Naked Gun premiered at the SVA Theater in Manhattan on July 28, 2025, and was released in the United States by Paramount Pictures on August 1, 2025. The film received positive reviews from critics and has grossed $76 million worldwide against a $42 million budget.

Plot

Lieutenant Frank Drebin Jr. of the LAPD Police Squad singlehandedly dispatches a gang of bank robbers while disguised as a schoolgirl. Unbeknownst to him, this was a distraction to steal a gadget called the "P.L.O.T. Device" from a safe deposit box. Police Chief Davis reassigns Drebin when his over-the-top law enforcement becomes a legal liability. While paying tribute to his father Frank Drebin Sr., he prays to him to send him an owl as a sign of his approval.

Drebin investigates software engineer Simon Davenport's fatal car crash, deeming it suicide, but notices a matchbook at the scene. Simon's sister Beth, a crime novelist, argues otherwise, but Drebin discourages her from investigating further. Drebin finds Richard Cane, Simon's wealthy employer at Edentech, at the company's tech expo. After they mutually appreciate the Black Eyed Peas, Cane donates a self-driving electric car to Police Squad – which wreaks havoc with Drebin behind the wheel – and recommends his personal nightclub. Drebin notices the matchbook found at Simon's crash site has the same logo as the nightclub.

Cane privately demonstrates how he will use the stolen P.L.O.T. ("Primordial Law of Toughness") Device to revert humans to their barbarian nature, culling the population for his fellow billionaires, who will be safely insulated in a bunker. Drebin, while interrogating one of the bank robbers, learns about the deposit box, which was Simon's, connecting the two cases. At Cane's club, Beth distracts Cane with improvised, atrocious scat singing while Drebin fights many goons to access security footage, discovering that Simon met discreetly with a journalist. Davis suspends Drebin for insubordination. Beth stays with the demoralized Drebin, and he considers finally moving on from memories of his late wife. Drebin and Beth spend a romantic weekend at an alpine lodge. They have a threesome with a magical, living snowman, but the snowman turns murderous after they neglect it.

Drebin finds the journalist murdered and is easily tricked into incriminating himself. He flees in the electric car, but Cane overrides the controls and attempts to kill Drebin just as he did Simon. Drebin blows out the windshield, but is trapped again by the car driving head-on into balloons, bees, and a replacement windshield. He accidentally activates Clippy, who helpfully unlocks the doors. Meanwhile, Police Squad has been decommissioned. Beth reveals that Simon feared the misuse of the P.L.O.T. Device, but Drebin suspects that Beth is using him and angrily leaves her home.

Drebin captures Cane's henchman Gustafson and frightens him into confessing to Cane's plan to activate the P.L.O.T. Device at the New Year's ball drop at a mixed martial arts match. Drebin heads to the match at the "Ponzi-scheme.com Arena", equipped with an earpiece that blocks the P.L.O.T. Device's influence. Beth plans to kill Cane, but he sees this coming as telegraphed in her book. Drebin finds the P.L.O.T. Device inside the New Year's balls. He loses his pants as the balls drop, indecently exposing himself to the entire audience, leading them to not respect his order to evacuate. The P.L.O.T. Device activates, and mindless violence erupts throughout the city. Drebin fights through innocents by ricocheting ejected handgun magazines, but cannot catch up with the escaping Cane. His father's spirit arrives as an owl, airlifting Drebin and blinding Cane with feces. Cane folds in agony after one punch to the gut. Beth nearly shoots Cane in revenge, but Drebin talks her down. Drebin and Beth use the P.L.O.T. Device to calm the crowd and embrace lovingly as Cane is arrested. In the aftermath, Drebin faces "investigation" by "Internal Affairs" – actually the name of a tropical resort, where he spends his time with Beth.

In a post-credits scene, "Weird Al" Yankovic performs onstage to an empty bunker.

Cast

Jon Anik, Michael Bisping, Bruce Buffer, Dave Bautista, John McCarthy, and "Weird Al" Yankovic all appear as themselves; Yankovic had previously made cameo appearances in all three of the preceding films in the franchise.[5] MMA fighters Justin Gaethje and Kamaru Usman appear as fighters in the films "WWFC" event scene.[6] Additionally, Jason MacDonald appears as Simon Davenport and Priscilla Presley makes a cameo appearance reprising her role as Jane Spencer-Drebin, the wife of the late Frank Drebin and mother of Frank Drebin Jr.[7]

Production

Producer Seth MacFarlane and director Akiva Schaffer

Cancelled attempt with Leslie Nielsen

Although 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994) was intended to be the final installment, in 2009, it was revealed that a fourth film starring Leslie Nielsen was planned as a direct-to-TV sequel, titled The Naked Gun: What 4? The Rhythm of Evil. The script followed the story of Frank training a young rookie, but due to financial reasons, it was canceled in 2009. It was written by Alan Spencer, who said he signed on to write the film as a "rescue mission" to save an inferior sequel from happening, and impressed Paramount executives and online reviewers so much that it was briefly shifted to the theatrical department, while the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker team, original writers of the saga, tried to stop it from happening.

Spencer wrote a sizable role for Nielsen, who would be passing the torch to a new generation of incompetent police, but Paramount asked him to reduce the part to a cameo for budgetary reasons, and later decided to remove his character altogether. After this last request, Spencer left the project.[8][9][10] Nielsen later passed away in November 2010.[11][12][13]

First development with Ed Helms

In December 2013, Paramount Pictures announced that a reboot of The Naked Gun franchise was in development with Ed Helms cast in the role of Frank Drebin, while the script was being co-written by Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant.[14] By January 2014, Garant revealed that the working title of the project was Episode IV: A New Hope, while announcing that it was intended to be a sequel to the original films. Helms was intended to portray a character that introduces himself as "Frank Drebin, no relation" so that the movie can introduce a new protagonist without contradicting what came before.[15] In March 2015, David Zucker stated that he was offered a producing role on the project, but had declined to be involved because he felt like it would differ in comedic style and ultimately be inferior to his original films.[16][17]

In August 2015, Helms confirmed that the script was still being written, while acknowledging the concerns that Zucker had with modern-day audience reception, and a need for something other than the spoof genre of the previous movies.[18] By March 2017, a re-write of the script was being completed by David Zucker and Pat Proft, with the plot being reworked to feature the son of Frank Drebin,[19] who would have been a secret agent rather than a policeman, with the film being called Naked: Impossible. Zucker felt that "they don't make cop movies anymore. When you do parody, you've got to spoof something current."[20]

Second development with Seth MacFarlane

In January 2021, it was announced that Seth MacFarlane had been hired to further develop the project. After MacFarlane had previously expressed interest in casting Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin Jr. in 2015, he was hired by the studio. MacFarlane and Paramount approached Neeson with a pitch to star in the movie.[21][22] In June, Neeson stated that MacFarlane was working on a new draft of the script, with the studio additionally negotiating his potential role as director. He expressed excitement at the opportunity to explore a more comedic role should he decide to star in the movie, while stating that development on the project was ongoing.[23] In February 2022, Neeson again confirmed that Paramount was still courting him to star in the legacy sequel.[24]

In October 2022, the film was greenlit with Neeson in the lead role as Frank Drebin Jr. and Akiva Schaffer directing. Dan Gregor and Doug Mand were hired to write a new draft of the script from a previous draft with contributions from Mark Hentemann and Alec Sulkin. In December 2024, it was determined by the Writers Guild of America that Gregor, Mand, and Schaffer would be credited on the screenplay while Hentemann, MacFarlane, and Sulkin contributed additional literary material.[25] MacFarlane and Erica Huggins served as producers, under their production company Fuzzy Door Productions, with Domain Entertainment providing additional funding.[26] Zucker was again offered a credit on the film, as an executive producer, but he declined, saying he did not wish to claim credit for a project he was not involved with.[27] Near the film's 2025 release, Zucker expressed dissatisfaction with the crew not involving him.[28] Zucker stated after the film's release that, though he had no intention of watching the film (as was standard procedure for him regarding sequels to his work), he was pleased that it was a success and was on good terms with the director and writing crew; he stated to Variety that he had declined to get involved in the film mainly because he believed he would have done the film differently.[29]

In April 2024, Pamela Anderson joined the cast.[30] Anderson was originally offered the role of Tanya Peters in The Final Insult before the role eventually went to Anna Nicole Smith.[31] In May, Paul Walter Hauser joined the cast, playing Capt. Ed Hocken,[32] alongside Kevin Durand in an undisclosed villain role,[33] as well as Danny Huston,[34] Liza Koshy, Cody Rhodes, CCH Pounder and Busta Rhymes.[35]

Filming

Principal photography began on May 6, 2024, in Atlanta under the working title Law of Toughness, and it wrapped on June 28.[36][37]

Release

The Naked Gun premiered at the SVA Theater in New York on July 28, 2025, and released in the United States on August 1, 2025.[38][39] It was originally scheduled for July 18, 2025.[40]

Reception

Box office

As of August 19, 2025, The Naked Gun has grossed $43 million in the United States and Canada, and $32 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $76 million.[3][4]

In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside The Bad Guys 2, and was projected to gross around $15 million from 3,344 theaters in its opening weekend. It grossed $6.3 million on its first day, including $1.6 million from Thursday previews.[41] It went on to open to $16.8 million, finishing in third behind holdover The Fantastic Four: First Steps and The Bad Guys 2.[42][43]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 88% of 296 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "With Liam Neeson's gravelly gravitas proving to be a perfect fit for Frank Drebin's deadpan buffoonery, The Naked Gun revives the original trilogy's daffy sense of humor like it never went out of style."[44] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 75 out of 100, based on 48 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[45] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.[46][47]

Hanna Flint of Time Out gave the film a perfect five stars out of five rating, and wrote, "In the thick of reboot culture, The Naked Gun is a prime example of filmmakers taking a nostalgic piece of cinema and making good on its legacy. It honours the humour above all, and you’d be hard-pushed to find a funnier film this year."[48] IndieWire's David Ehrlich awarded the film with B+ grade, and wrote, "That's a delicate tango in the context of an increasingly rare studio movie that exists for no other purpose than to make people laugh, but it’s one this hilarious new take on the old ZAZ masterpiece pulls off with a rose between its teeth."[49]

Future

In August 2025, producer Erica Huggins said in an interview that discussions about a sequel were ongoing between the actors, writers, and producers.[50]

References

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