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[Deadline] New ‘Naked Gun’ Movie A Go At Paramount With Liam Neeson In Talks To Star And ‘Lonely Island’s Akiva Schaffer Directing

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member

winjer

Gold Member
Chances are they are just going to ruin another great saga of movies.

Season 5 No GIF by The Office
 
Look Liam is great, but for the Naked Gun?
That was a comedy by a great comedian (Leslie Nielsen) who was very different from Liam.
I grew up watching the Naked gun films, but I also grw up watching stuff like Taken and the like.
Those are very different things, and I don't really see the actors being interchangeable that way.
Wasn't Steve Martin available?
I don't see this ending well.
 

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
Look Liam is great, but for the Naked Gun?
That was a comedy by a great comedian (Leslie Nielsen) who was very different from Liam.
I grew up watching the Naked gun films, but I also grw up watching stuff like Taken and the like.
Those are very different things, and I don't really see the actors being interchangeable that way.
Wasn't Steve Martin available?
I don't see this ending well.
Nielsen wasn't known for comedy in his career before pivoting.

Nielsen's supporting role of Dr. Rumack in Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker's 1980's Airplane! was a turning point in his career. The film, a parody of disaster films such as Zero Hour!and Airport, was based on building a comedy around actors known for dramatic roles. Other stars included Robert Stack, Peter Graves, and Lloyd Bridges. Nielsen's deadpan delivery contrasted with the absurdity surrounding him. When asked, "Surely you can't be serious?", he responded with a curt, "I am serious. And don't call me Shirley." In several interviews, he reflected on the line: "I thought it was amusing, but it never occurred to me that it was going to become a trademark. It's such a surprise ... the thing comes out, people say, 'What did he say?!'"

Neeson's intense demeanor is quite similar to Nielsen IMO. I think the casting is fantastic.
 

jason10mm

Gold Member
I have ZERO confidence that they can make either a silly, but funny, film or a biting, and funny, film. Unless they get Bill Burr, Dave Chapelle, Joe Rogan, and a handful of others to write this its a gonna stink. Even if they just rely on visual gags alone and don't touch any charged topics, I don't see it.

But I'm hopeful. Something other than the sarcastic cynicism that has dominated for the past couple of years.
 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
They need to make it for MODERN AUDIENCES or I'm not seeing it.

Appointing 2 white male leads is already fascist casting. This is Mussolini type ****.
 
Good for Neeson, finally doing something different with his career. Whether he has hidden potential for comedy remains to be seen.
Personally I would have liked if they went with Andy Sandberg, Bill Hader, or even Chris Pratt.

At least it's not Ryan Reynolds.
 

SJRB

Gold Member
In a sense it’s kind of amazing they’re casting a white hetero man for this remake, so i guess there’s that?
 

Vestal

Gold Member
I think Neeson like Nielsen has the Acting chops to pull this sort of character of..


Having said that, it will depend on the type of movie they are able to make. This ain't the 80s, and a lot of crap they could get away with back then won't fly with studio execs or audiences as easily.
 

jason10mm

Gold Member
Having said that, it will depend on the type of movie they are able to make. This ain't the 80s, and a lot of crap they could get away with back then won't fly with studio execs or audiences as easily.
Oh, I think it would fly with audiences quite well. Twitter-loons are not an audience. All the comics that eschew PC culture are playing to packed houses. If they could make a film that lampoons EVERYONE and does it in a non-preachy way, it could work quite well. I just don't have much faith in modern writers to do it.

But then again, they got Liam "I went out looking for ANY black man to punish" Neeson as the lead so who knows?
 

Hoddi

Member
I think Neeson like Nielsen has the Acting chops to pull this sort of character of..
I've always thought that Charles Dance would have nailed the role. The whole thing that makes these films funny is that you have these very serious actors saying those lines.

Getting a comedian for the role would have killed any interest I'd had.
 

Mobilemofo

Member
I didn't know Liam neeson was able to do anything other than : husband, a cook, ex blah blah, saves daughter. Husband, a teacher, saves ex wife from pedophile honey monster. A man, an ex sas super tactical teabag specialist, saves his niece from evil Cambodian puppeteers.

You get the idea. I saw him in one of Gervais's extras episodes years ago. Since then, it's been, rinse and repeat.

The writings gonna have to be fuckin tremendous to make him look funny. 😄 Might be the best disaster of that year when it's in the cinema. Assuming we are all here by then and not dead.
 
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Hoddi

Member
I didn't know Liam neeson was able to do anything other than : husband, a cook, ex blah blah, saves daughter. Husband, a teacher, saves ex wife from pedophile honey monster. A man, an ex sas super tactical teabag specialist, saves his niece from evil Cambodian puppeteers.

You get the idea. I saw him in one of Gervais's extras episodes years ago. Since then, it's been, rinse and repeat.

The writings gonna have to be fuckin tremendous to make him look funny. 😄 Might be the best disaster of that year when it's in the cinema. Assuming we are all here by then and not dead.
The whole thing that made the originals so funny is that they cast a dead serious actor in an incredibly silly role. Leslie Nielsen was never a comedian before Airplane made him into one.

I don't want some 'wacky' comedian in this role. I want to see someone like Charles Dance or Liev Schreiber or Patrick Stewart playing it straight.
 

Mobilemofo

Member
The whole thing that made the originals so funny is that they cast a dead serious actor in an incredibly silly role. Leslie Nielsen was never a comedian before Airplane made him into one.

I don't want some 'wacky' comedian in this role. I want to see someone like Charles Dance or Liev Schreiber or Patrick Stewart playing it straight.
Honestly, I'm surprised they haven't offered it to a trans actor, or kevin heart such is the state of the world.
 
Eh, I don't know, he doesn't have the same delivery as Leslie. I can't think of anyone that could fill his shoes. I didn't find that clip all that funny.

Bob Odenkirk maybe?

There's just no reason to reboot or remake this series. They are fucking gold as they are.
Christian Bale could do it.

His rant at the fella with the lights on the set of terminator 3 is funny af.
 

01011001

Banned
100% agree. That being said, Liam Neeson can be quite funny under good writing(which lets be honest, is very rare these days).



he is the only one who could play Frank Drebin jr that I can think off, but there's just no way this can turn out good... zero chance
 
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Sophist

Member
Could be fine if Neeson doesn't try to mimick Nielsen unique style but go with his own. Let Bartlet be Bartlet.
 
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