The cult comedy franchise The Naked Gun might be getting an update — with the help of some pretty heavy hitters. Liam Neeson confirmed that he has been approached to be involved with a reboot of the comedy movies, which would be spearheaded by Family Guy and The Orville creator Seth MacFarlane. While there’s no telling when and how the project would become a reality, Neeson acknowledged that the project, which would see him step into the role previously held by Leslie Nielsen, would be a turning point for his career, in one way or another.
“I’ve been approached by Seth McFarlane and Paramount Studios to maybe resurrect the Naked Gun films,” Neeson told People (the TV Show!). “It’ll either finish my career or bring it in another direction. I honestly don’t know.”
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During a recent interview with Sunday TODAY, Neeson spoke about his career status as an action movie star, and admitted that the long-term future of him doing that might soon have an expiration date.
“I turn 70 this year, so I’m still getting away with it,” Neeson explained. “I think the action movies will draw to a close – they have to. Audiences aren’t stupid, you know. They’re gonna go, ‘Oh, f- this guy, Liam Neeson. He’s got to be 71, 72, 73…’ I’ll stop at some stage.”
The Naked Gun movies have not gotten an official installment since 1994’s Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult, although there have been plans to continue the franchise for almost a decade. All the way back in 2013, Paramount had put a new installment of the franchise into development, with Thomas Lennon and Ben Garant lined up to write the script, and Ed Helms set to star.
“That’s a conversation that’s been happening, it’s kind of in the grinding gears of Hollywood,” Helms explained to Yahoo! in 2015. “You have to make something that a contemporary audience is going to like. We haven’t seen many of those slapstick movies in a while, so I’m not sure what the right angle is on it.”
What do you think of Liam Neeson’s comments about potentially working on new The Naked Gun movies with Seth MacFarlane? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!