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The Naked Gun

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This article is about the franchise. For the first film in the franchise, see The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! For the unrelated 1956 western film, see Naked Gun (1956 film).

The Naked Gun media franchise consists of several American crime spoof-comedies, based on an original story written by the comedy filmmaking trio Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker. The installments include one television series and three theatrical films. The plot centers on a police detective with a lot of heart, despite being less than intelligent. Leslie Nielsen stars in each installment in the protagonist role of Detective Sergeant Franklin "Frank" Drebin, with a fourth film starring Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin Jr. scheduled for release in 2025. The franchise was met with mostly positive critical reception,[1][2][3] and the films were a financial box office success.

The Naked Gun
Created byZucker, Abrahams and Zucker
Original workPolice Squad! (1982)
OwnerParamount Global
Films and television
Film(s)The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991)
Naked Gun 33+1⁄3: The Final Insult (1994)
The Naked Gun (2025)
Television seriesPolice Squad! (1982)
Miscellaneous
Starring
Budget$65 million[citation needed] (Total of 3 films)
Box office$477 million (Total of 3 films)

Television

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Police Squad! (1982)

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Main article: Police Squad!

An American crime spoof-comedy television series that was broadcast through the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) network in 1982. The series starred Leslie Nielsen in the first franchise installment as Franklin "Frank" Drebin, and was co-created/written by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker. Parodying police procedurals, the series featured the use of sight gags, wordplay and non sequiturs. Although the show was cancelled after six episodes, it was later followed by the successful film series, and in 2013 TV Guide ranked it #7 on its list of 60 shows that were "Cancelled Too Soon".[4]

Film

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Title U.S.
release date 		Director Screenwriters Story by Producer(s)
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! December 2, 1988 (1988-12-02) David Zucker Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, David Zucker & Pat Proft Robert K. Weiss
The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear June 28, 1991 (1991-06-28) David Zucker & Pat Proft
Naked Gun 33+1⁄3: The Final Insult March 18, 1994 (1994-03-18) Peter Segal Pat Proft and
David Zucker & Robert LoCash 		Robert K. Weiss and David Zucker
The Naked Gun August 1, 2025 Akiva Schaffer Akiva Schaffer
and Dan Gregor & Doug Mand
and Mark Hentemann & Alec Sulkin
and Seth MacFarlane 		Seth MacFarlane Seth MacFarlane and Erica Huggins

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)

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Main article: The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!

Detective Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen) tries to uncover a plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II, who is on a state visit to the USA. The main suspect is Vincent Ludwig, a rich businessman (Ricardo Montalbán), who uses a hypnotic device to turn others into murderers. As with previous ZAZ spoof comedies, the plot was mostly culled from another—more serious—movie. In this case, it was Telefon wherein people were triggered into assassins via hypnotic phone calls (indeed, dialogue in the post-hypnotic suggestion demonstration scene is copied word-for-word from Telefon). On the case, Drebin falls in love with Ludwig's assistant, Jane Spencer (Priscilla Presley). She knows nothing about Ludwig's plot, and after the pair spends the night together, Jane helps with Frank's investigation.

The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991)

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Main article: The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear

Frank discovers that Jane's new boyfriend, Quentin Hapsburg (Robert Goulet), is involved in an evil plan to kidnap Dr. Albert S. Meinheimer (Richard Griffiths), a scientist whom President George H. W. Bush (John Roarke) has chosen to determine a new national energy policy. Hapsburg plans to kidnap the real Dr. Meinheimer and replace him with a lookalike named Earl Hacker (also portrayed by Griffiths) who will endorse an energy policy according to the dictates of the energy lobby.

Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult (1994)

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Main article: Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult

In the third film of the series, Frank is married to Jane, and he has retired from Police Squad. The film introduces the criminal Rocco Dillon (Fred Ward), who is stuck in prison. He is contacted by someone called Papshmir to be given a target for a bombing. Frank is pulled out of retirement. He goes undercover pretending to be a prisoner named "Nick 'the Slasher' McGurk Jr., III" at the jail where Dillon is being held, and they break out of jail. Outside they are escorted by Dillon's gangster mother (Kathleen Freeman) to his country retreat, where Frank also meets Rocco's voluptuous moll (Anna Nicole Smith). The gang plots to blow up the Academy Awards. When Jane arrives looking for Frank, she is taken hostage.

The Naked Gun (2025)

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Main article: The Naked Gun (2025 film)

In 2009, it was revealed that a fourth movie starring Leslie Nielsen was coming out as a direct-to-TV sequel, and that it was going to be about Frank training a young rookie. The film was given the title The Naked Gun 4: Rhythm of Evil. The script was written by Alan Spencer. The original writers of the first movie, the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker team tried to stop it from happening. According to Alan Spencer, he signed on to write the film as a “rescue mission” to save an inferior sequel from happening. The script impressed the Paramount executives that it was briefly moved to development for theatrical release. Spencer wrote a sizable role for Leslie Nielsen, who would be passing the torch to a new generation of incompetent cops, but the studio asked him to reduce Nielsen's part to a cameo for budgetary reasons, before opting to remove the character altogether. Spencer left the project following the request and the movie entered development hell, ultimately never being realized.[5][6][7]

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 R. Ben Garant.[8] By January 2014, Garant revealed that the working title of the project is "Episode IV: A New Hope", while announcing that it is 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.[9] In March 2015, David Zucker stated that he was offered a producing role on the project, but had denied being involved as he felt like it would differ in comedic style and ultimately be inferior to his original films.[10][11] 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.[12] 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.[13]

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, the filmmaker was hired by the studio. Neeson revealed that the filmmaker alongside Paramount Pictures had approached him with a pitch to star in the movie.[14][15] In June of the same year, Neeson stated that MacFarlane was working on a new draft of the script, with the studio additionally negotiating the filmmaker's potential role as director. He expressed excitement for the project and the opportunity to explore a more comedic role, should he decide to star in the movie; while stating that development on the project is ongoing.[16] In February 2022, Neeson again confirmed that Paramount is still courting him to star in the legacy sequel.[17]

In October 2022, the film was officially greenlit with Neeson in the lead role. Directed by Akiva Schaffer, Dan Gregor, and Doug Mand, who were also hired to write a new draft of the script from a previous draft with contributions from Mark Hentemann and Alec Sulkin. Seth MacFarlane and Erica Huggins will serve as producers, with a production start date pending. The project will be a joint-venture production between Paramount and Fuzzy Door Productions.[18] Principal photography was tentatively scheduled for summer 2023.[19] MacFarlane revealed in January 2024 that production will take place later that year.[20] The film was originally scheduled for release on July 18, 2025, but was later moved to August 1, 2025.[21][22] Principal photography ran from May to June 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia.[23]

Video games

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The Naked Gun: ICUP (2012)

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The Naked Gun: ICUP, a point and click and adventure game, was released by Gamecentric Media and Paramount in 2011.[24] The story and concept were penned by Robert LoCash, a writer of the third Naked Gun film. A press release by Gamecentric about the game read "Spoofing modern crime dramas and lampooning popular video games, THE NAKED GUN: ICUP is designed as a continuation of the classic film franchise for the digital age. The game will be serialized over six episodes starting this fall with a new episode debuting monthly. Each episode will be fully voice-acted by top Hollywood talent to deliver a classic story-driven adventure supported by the itemized incentive structure of current popular social network games."[25] Due to Leslie Nielsen's death in 2010, voice actor A.J. LoCascio took over as Frank Drebin Jr., the son of the original character. The game received an average score of 60 on the review aggregator Metacritic.[26]

Recurring cast and characters

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List indicators

This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in notable roles.

  • An empty, dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film, or that the character's official presence has not yet been confirmed.
  •  P indicates an appearance in onscreen photographs.
Character Television Film
Police Squad! The Naked Gun:
From the Files of Police Squad! 		The Naked Gun 2½:
The Smell of Fear 		Naked Gun 33+1⁄3:
The Final Insult 		The Naked Gun
1982 1988 1991 1994 2025
Det. Lt. Franklin "Frank" Drebin Leslie Nielsen TBA
Jane Spencer-Drebin Priscilla Presley
Franklin "Frank" Drebin Jr. Adam Hasart Liam Neeson
Cpt. Ed Hocken Alan North George Kennedy Paul Walter Hauser
Ted Olson Ed Williams
Big Al Ronald "Tiny Ron" Taylor
Det. Norberg Peter Lupus
Johnny the Snitch William Duell
Abraham Lincoln Rex Hamilton
Det. Fred Nordberg O. J. Simpson
"Weird Al" Yankovic Himself
Papshmir Raye Birk Raye Birk
Mrs. Wilma Nordberg Susan Beaubian
Mayor Lillian Barkley Nancy Marchand
Queen Elizabeth II Jeannette Charles
Vincent Ludwig Ricardo Montalbán
Quentin Hapsburg Robert Goulet
Dr. Albert S. Meinheimer Richard Griffiths
Commissioner Anabell Brumford Jacqueline Brookes
Hector Savage Anthony James
Terence Baggett Lloyd Bochner
Rocco Dillon Fred Ward
Muriel Dillon Kathleen Freeman
Tanya Peters Anna Nicole Smith
Louise Ellen Greene
TBA Pamela Anderson
Kevin Durand
Danny Huston
Liza Koshy
Cody Rhodes
CCH Pounder
Busta Rhymes

Additional crew and production details

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Title Crew/Detail
Composer Cinematographer Editor(s) Production
companies 		Distributing
company 		Running time
Police Squad! Ira Newborn Sherman Kunkel Tom Benko,
and Malcolm Campbell 		Paramount Television American Broadcasting Company,
CBS Television Distribution 		144 minutes
(24 mins/episodes)
The Naked Gun:
From the Files of Police Squad! 		Robert M. Stevens Michael Jablow Paramount Pictures Corp.[27] Paramount 85 minutes
The Naked Gun 2½:
The Smell of Fear 		Christopher Greenbury
& James R. Symons 		Paramount Pictures,
Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker Productions[28] 		Paramount Pictures Corporation
Naked Gun 33+1⁄3:
The Final Insult 		James R. Symons Paramount Pictures 83 minutes
The Naked Gun TBA TBA TBA Paramount Pictures,
Fuzzy Door Productions 		Paramount Pictures TBA

Reception

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Box office performance

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Film US/Canada gross International gross Total gross
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! $78,756,177[29] $73,689,000[30] $152,445,177
The Naked Gun 2+1⁄2: The Smell of Fear $86,930,411[31] $105,310,000[30][32] $192,240,411
Naked Gun 33+1⁄3: The Final Insult $51,132,598[33] $81,273,000[30] $132,405,598
Total $216,819,186 $260,272,000 $477,091,186

Critical and public response

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Each film is linked to the "Critical response" section of its article.
Title Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic CinemaScore[34]
Police Squad! 90% (31 reviews)[35] — —
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! 87% (54 reviews)[1] 76 (13 reviews)[36] A−
The Naked Gun 2+1⁄2: The Smell of Fear 57% (40 reviews)[2] 65 (21 reviews)[37] B+
Naked Gun 33+1⁄3: The Final Insult 54% (35 reviews)[3] 63 (21 reviews)[38] B+

References

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  1. ^ a b "The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved August 3, 2019.
  2. ^ a b "The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear (1991)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved August 3, 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved August 3, 2019.
  4. ^ Roush, Matt (June 3, 2013). "Cancelled Too Soon". TV Guide. pp. 20 and 21
  5. ^ Evans, Bradford (February 7, 2013). "The Lost Projects of 'Sledge Hammer!' Creator Alan Spencer". Vulture. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
  6. ^ merrick. "Captain Kronos Says THE NAKED GUN: WHAT 4? THE RHYTHM OF EVIL Script Is 'Inspired'!!". Aint It Cool News. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
  7. ^ "20 movie sequels... that never actually happened". Shortlist. February 1, 2022. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
  8. ^ McNary, Dave (December 13, 2013). "Ed Helms Firing Up The Naked Gun Reboot for Paramount (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
  9. ^ Lesnick, Silas (January 11, 2014). "The Naked Gun Reboot Will be More Sequel Than Remake". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
  10. ^ De Semlyen, Phil (December 3, 2015). "David Zucker: Naked Gun Reboot Won't Be The Same Kind Of Spoof". Empire Online. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
  11. ^ Zakarin, Jordan (March 11, 2015). "'Airplane!' Mastermind David Zucker on Leslie Nielsen, the 'Naked Gun' Reboot and His New TV Show". Yahoo! Entertainment. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
  12. ^ Polowy, Kevin (August 5, 2015). "Ed Helms Updates Us on 'Naked Gun' Reboot, Answers 'Things We've Always Wondered'". Yahoo! Entertainment. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
  13. ^ Skubish, Jake (March 30, 2017). "Director David Zucker talks "Airplane!", comedy, getting his start on campus". The Daily Cardinal. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
  14. ^ Zinski, Dan (January 19, 2021). "Liam Neeson & Seth MacFarlane Have Talked About a Naked Gun Reboot". Screen Rant. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
  15. ^ Campione, Katie (January 2021). "Liam Neeson Says He Will Soon Retire from Action Movies: 'There's a Couple in the Pipeline'". People. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  16. ^ Reyes, Mike (June 24, 2021). "Liam Neeson's Update On Seth MacFarlane's The Naked Gun Reboot Has Us Very Excited". CinemaBlend. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
  17. ^ Fernández, Alexia (February 7, 2022). "Liam Neeson on Playing Action Roles as He Turns 70: 'I'm Getting Away with It'". People. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  18. ^ Kroll, Justin (October 13, 2022). "New 'Naked Gun' Movie A Go At Paramount With Liam Neeson In Talks To Star And 'Lonely Island's Akiva Schaffer Directing". Deadline. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  19. ^ Villei, Matt (January 18, 2023). "'Naked Gun' Reboot Hopes to Start Shooting This Summer, Says Liam Neeson". Collider. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
  20. ^ Fuge, Jonathan (February 17, 2023). "Seth MacFarlane Gives HIs First Update on The Naked Gun Reboot". MovieWeb. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
  21. ^ Stephan, Katcy (February 28, 2024). "'Naked Gun' Remake Set for 2025 by Paramount; 'TMNT' and 'Paw Patrol' Sequels Dated for 2026". Variety. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
  22. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 4, 2024). "Paramount Dates & Shifts Slew Of Movies For 2025: Glen Powell's 'Running Man', 'Smurfs', 'Naked Gun', 'Vicious' & More". Deadline. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
  23. ^ "Untitled Naked Gun Reboot". Productionlist. March 25, 2024. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  24. ^ Fahey, Mike (January 4, 2012). "The Sins of The Naked Gun Are Visited Upon Frank Drebin's Son". Kotaku. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
  25. ^ "Bleeding Cool".
  26. ^ "The Naked Gun: I.C.U.P." Metacritic.
  27. ^ "AFI|Catalog".
  28. ^ "AFI|Catalog".
  29. ^ "BoxofficeMojo". The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!. Retrieved January 19, 2008.
  30. ^ a b c "UIP's $25M-Plus Club". Variety. September 11, 1995. p. 92.
  31. ^ "The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear". BoxofficeMojo. Retrieved January 19, 2008.
  32. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (July 15, 2002). "Top 50 worldwide grossers". Variety. p. 52, Paramount at 90 supplement.
  33. ^ "The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult". BoxofficeMojo. Retrieved January 19, 2008.
  34. ^ "CinemaScore". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on April 13, 2022. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
  35. ^ "Police Squad! (1982)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
  36. ^ "The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved August 3, 2019.
  37. ^ "The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear (1991)". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved August 3, 2019.
  38. ^ "Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994)". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved August 3, 2019.
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