Liam Neeson Firing Up ‘The Naked Gun’ Reboot for Paramount

[Immortalfire]

Every time Hollywood decides to reboot, a kitten dies.

Please, someone think of the kittens!

 

[Teelie]

Idris Elba for Nordberg, he can play the smart straight guy cop who keeps having strange occurrences happen to him when he is around the absent minded Frank Drebin.

You'd still need a good Drebin although I can see Elba pulling off the Nordberg role.

 

[Matt]

Idris Elba for Nordberg, he can play the smart straight guy cop who keeps having strange occurrences happen to him when he is around the absent minded Frank Drebin.

By doing that, you've in essence switched Norburg and Frank's roles. In fact, no one should be the absent minded idiot. What makes The Naked Gun movies brilliant is that literally everyone is playing it 100 % straight, despite the absurd things that they are saying, doing and are happening around them.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Had it been a straight sequel with Leslie Nielsen, I think a running gag in the movie would have been that every time Nordberg is on screen, he's played everytime by a different actor.

 

[The Shape]

Every time I see that there is a new post in this thread, I pray it's because they've cancelled this project.

 

[kedrell]

Josh Brolin would've fit better than Ed Helms, I think.

 

[<(o_o)>]

Josh Brolin would've fit better than Ed Helms, I think.

Yeah he was great as younger K in Men In Black 3 who's humor in the movie was similar to what you would expect from Frank Drebin.

 

[Teelie]

He's already mimicked Tommy Lee Jones' Agent K, not sure he'd want to try to be Nielson's Drebin too.

 

[kedrell]

I was just trying to think of a non-comedian for the role.

 

[jmc]

I watched the original the other night and it's still fantastic. There's only a couple of references to the time period in which it was film, other than that it stands up to this day. The issue with most parody movies these days is they are very much about what's hip at the time, stuff which gets forgotten soon after.

 

[Eddie Dean]

I was just trying to think of a non-comedian for the role.

I'd go with the other LN - Liam Neeson.

 

[Teelie]

I watched the original the other night and it's still fantastic. There's only a couple of references to the time period in which it was film, other than that it stands up to this day. The issue with most parody movies these days is they are very much about what's hip at the time, stuff which gets forgotten soon after.

That and the movies or events they're spoofing (often terribly) are movies that might not be relevant only a few years later. Some of them require you to have been alive and aware of the events at the time they're released.

Others can get away with making subtle references to events that don't require intimate knowledge of the era.

 

[<(o_o)>]

I'd go with the other LN - Liam Neeson.

Neeson doesn't look goofy enough though. Now Arnold Schwarzenegger as Frank Drebin would be hysterical.

 

[:eek:]

I'd go with the other LN - Liam Neeson.

Seven years later:

Neeson Wanted For New "Naked Gun"? - Dark Horizons

 

[Venom75]

I know the phrase,"You can never replace..." is overused in Hollywood,but in this case I feel it's justified. Leslie Neilson cannot be replaced when it comes to the Naked Gun movies.

 

[DarkKnight88]

Liam Neeson is a better choice than Ed Helms for the simple fact that he’s a dramatic actor doing comedy which is what Leslie Nielsen was known for before Airplane.

Frank Drebin takes his world completely serious. No winking at the camera.

 

[samsnee]

I can’t see Liam Neeson in this role.

 

[Kirmit]

Rebooting would be an awful idea, it is a product of its time with actors who can’t be replaced. Also I feel the world is too serious and politically correct nowadays for this kind of movie unfortunately, you can’t help but offend someone in some way.

 

[TheVileOne]

Got to reboot everything these days.

 

[KaijuDude1992]

Lol they actually considered Ed Helms to reboot this? I guess that changed once they saw how much of a misfire the Vacation reboot was even though I didn't hate that movie either.

As for Liam Neeson though I love him, but he just doesnt fit this role the same way Leslie Nielson did and I just don't believe you can make this type of movie anymore.

 

[Dave McFly]

One person in an online post about the NG reboot suggested Steve Carell and I think he would be awesome as Frank more so than Ed or Liam

 

[Doctor Jones]

Honestly... this is the right type of casting at least. Nielson was known for his more serious work and that's what made those movies funny. These older, prestigious actors playing it straight while they were in the middle of these ridiculous situations and saying these things. But that humor was part if that which you can't really duplicate.

 

[Schlosser85]

There's no replacing Leslie Nielsen.

 

[DarkKnight88]

One person in an online post about the NG reboot suggested Steve Carell and I think he would be awesome as Frank more so than Ed or Liam

Get Smart is pretty much his Naked Gun.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

Rebooting would be an awful idea, it is a product of its time with actors who can’t be replaced. Also I feel the world is too serious and politically correct nowadays for this kind of movie unfortunately, you can’t help but offend someone in some way.

Especially with this. Drebin is a sexist, racist ******* and trigger happy cop who celebrates the number of people he's killed in the line of duty. His behavior is supposed to be appalling, but a whole lot of people either won't get that or will think these very serious issues in today's world shouldn't be a source of comedy.