Liam Neeson Worries He Might Not Have the Particularly Silly Set of Skills to Carry ‘The Naked Gun’ Reboot

Liam Neeson doesn’t know who we are or what we want, but if we’re looking for a proper replacement for Leslie Nielsen, he’s not sure he can help out.

Let’s be completely honest with ourselves for a second. Nobody in the Naked Gun fandom has been calling for a franchise reboot 30 years after what should have been the final film in the series in Naked Gun 33 1⁄3: The Final Insult, especially one that was made without any involvement from David Zucker or the late, great Nielsen. Well, nobody except Seth MacFarlane and The Lonely Island’s Akiva Schaffer, apparently — the pair teamed up to convince Paramount Pictures to revive the series with a reboot film, simply titled The Naked Gun, which is scheduled to hit theaters on August 1, 2025. 

With MacFarlane in charge of the story and Schaffer directing, the film series based on Zucker’s cut-short TV show Police Squad! will continue its legacy without the comedic talents who first made the franchise a success, but the duo had the foresight to book one of the premier action-comedy (or at least action) talents alive to take up Nielsen’s mantle — Oskar Schindler himself.

Neeson recently wrapped shooting on the new Naked Gun along with his co-star in the picture, Pamela Anderson, and the pair spoke to PEOPLE about the big Swiss Army Shoes they had to fill. The Taken star admitted that he has his reservations about how well he led such a “silly” movie, saying of the new Naked Gun, “Whether I can carry it or not, I honestly don’t know.”

If leading a comedy film turns out not to be in Neeson’s wheelhouse, he can always fall back on his improv:

Though Neeson is less than confident in his own ability to “carry” The Naked Gun, he has no doubt that his occasionally clothed co-star has the comedic chops to make the reboot a hit. Neeson said of Anderson, “I’m madly in love with her. I can’t compliment her enough. She’s funny.”

Meanwhile, Anderson believes that, despite Neeson’s lacking her level of sitcom experience, his performance during the filming of The Naked Gun will split sides like he used to split heads. “He’s being humble,” Anderson said of Neeson's reservations. “It was hard to keep a straight face in scenes together.”

In spite of Neeson’s insecurities about leading a comedy, you can see that the logic in his casting is based on the formula laid out in the original films. Nielsen wasn’t a comedy superstar because he was some silly, slapstick, Three Stooges-style physical performer. No, in all his Zucker-led projects, Nielsen was the perfect lead precisely because he knew how to be straight and stoic in silly situations. 

For that reason, the serious, icy Neeson is a fitting successor in the series — hopefully he knows that, now.