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The original director of The Naked Gun, David Zucker, has renewed his verbal assault concerning the newly released revival featuring Liam Neeson, after briefly appearing to adopt a more conciliatory tone following the premiere of the film's cinema debut.

Director's Disapproval of the New Film's Style

In a recent interview, Zucker stated that Seth MacFarlane, the producer behind the new Naked Gun and formerly the director and co-writer of the Ted movies, "completely failed to grasp" the parody genre approach that Zucker, together with his partners Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams, popularized in Airplane! and the three original Naked Gun films.

"Jerry, my sibling, and Jim Abrahams, our associate, began creating spoof comedies 50 years ago, and we developed a unique approach – and we did that so well that it looks easy, evidently. Others began imitating it, like Seth MacFarlane for the recent reboot. He totally missed it."

Zucker continued: "It can look like we're just throwing stuff up against the wall to see what sticks, but we're not. There's thought behind it."

The Irreplaceable Star

The director further stated that it was pointless to produce the film without Leslie Nielsen, who portrayed the iconic character and passed away in 2010, remarking: "They attempted to substitute Leslie Nielsen in the new Naked Gun, and you can't replace him. Nobody else is capable of that."

Earlier Objections and Shifting Tone

Zucker had previously objected to plans to go ahead with a Naked Gun reboot, remarking last year that he was "not excited about having the franchise given to other people". He continued: "They have not contacted me to make a cameo or be involved in the writing. Regardless of if they're going to succeed with it, this kind of spoof, I mean it isn't overly complex, but it is challenging."

Nonetheless, after a series of favorable critiques and impressive financial performance following its launch in August, Zucker adopted a more agreeable stance, saying: "I'm excited about it because it just demonstrates there's a strong market for comedy in cinemas, and parody specifically."

Return to Criticism Over Financial Aspects

Yet, Zucker resumed his criticism in the recent discussion, questioning the financial investment. "Large financial outlays and humor are incompatible, and in the recent reboot, you could see that they spent a lot of money on scenes full of technical pizzazz while trying to copy our style."

He added: "Everybody's in it for the money now, and that seems to be the only reason why they decided to produce a fresh installment."