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The original director of The Naked Gun, David Zucker, has reignited his criticism concerning the newly released revival featuring Liam Neeson, following a short period where he seemed to adopt a more conciliatory tone following the premiere of the film's theatrical release.

Zucker's Critique of the New Film's Style

During a fresh discussion, Zucker stated that Seth MacFarlane, the producer behind the new Naked Gun and previously the director and co-writer of the Ted movies, "completely failed to grasp" the parody genre approach that Zucker, along with his collaborators Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams, popularized in Airplane! and the initial trilogy of Naked Gun films.

"Jerry, my sibling, and Jim Abrahams, our associate, started doing spoof comedies five decades in the past, and we developed a unique approach – and we executed it so effectively that it appears simple, evidently. People started copying it, like the new film's producer for the new Naked Gun. He totally missed it."

Zucker continued: "It might appear that we're just randomly trying ideas to see what sticks, but we're not. Consideration is involved."

The Irreplaceable Star

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

Previous Reservations and Shifting Tone

The filmmaker had earlier expressed opposition to plans to go ahead with a Naked Gun reboot, remarking last year that he was "not enthusiastic regarding having the franchise given to other people". Adding: "They have not contacted me to appear briefly or be involved in the writing. Whether or not they're going to succeed with it, this style of parody, I mean it's not rocket science, but it's not easy."

Nonetheless, after a string of positive reviews and impressive financial performance following its launch in August, Zucker struck a more conciliatory tone, saying: "I'm excited about it because it just shows that there's a healthy audience for comedy in movie theatres, and spoof in particular."

Renewed Disapproval Over Budget Concerns

However, Zucker returned to the attack in the new interview, questioning the financial investment. "Big budgets and comedy are opposites, and in the new Naked Gun, you could see that they spent a lot of money on scenes full of technical pizzazz while trying to copy our style."

Zucker further noted: "Everybody's in it for the money now, and that seems to be the sole motivation why they wanted to do a fresh installment."