Paramount’s comedy reboot of the Naked Gun franchise, starring Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson, has opened strongly at the box office. Dan Gregor and Doug Mand, co-writers of the film, sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to discuss their approach to reviving the spoof series that originally featured Leslie Nielsen as detective Frank Drebin.
The writers tackled a sensitive topic – O.J. Simpson’s previous appearance in the franchise as Officer Nordberg. “We were set on wanting this movie to have a certain amount of comedy timelessness, and so not getting pigeonholed in any one specific was really important for us,” said Gregor. The film’s writers came up with a fast-reference joke about O.J., attaching it to another question – whether Liam Neeson was playing Frank Drebin.
Gregor also praised the chemistry between Neeson and Anderson, saying, “On set from the beginning, they had immediate chemistry.” The writers also discussed their approach to cameos from familiar faces, including Weird Al and Priscilla Presley.
“We did write at least a half dozen different places for him within the movie,” said Gregor. The film’s writers were mindful of not being too reverential to the original concept, but rather finding a way to make it worth existing on its own.
When asked about potential ideas for another sequel, Gregor mentioned that they have already started jotting down ideas in their notebooks.
Source: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/naked-gun-reboot-writers-liam-neeson-interview-1236337905