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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, following a short period where he seemed to soften his stance in the aftermath of the film's theatrical release.

Zucker's Critique of the Reboot's Comedy Approach

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, "totally missed" 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 50 years ago, and we developed a unique approach – and we did that so well that it appears simple, evidently. People started copying it, like the new film's producer for the new Naked Gun. He completely misunderstood it."

Zucker continued: "It might appear that we're just throwing stuff up against the wall to see what sticks, but we're not. Consideration is involved."

Leslie Nielsen's Legacy

Zucker added that it was futile to produce the film without Leslie Nielsen, who played Frank Drebin and who died 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 Changing Stance

The filmmaker had earlier expressed opposition to plans to go ahead with a Naked Gun reboot, remarking last year that he was "not excited about having the series handed over to other people". He continued: "I have not been approached to appear briefly or participate in scripting. Whether or not they're going to succeed with it, this style of parody, I mean it isn't overly complex, but it's not easy."

However, after a series of favorable critiques and impressive financial performance after its release in August, Zucker adopted a more agreeable stance, saying: "I am pleased by it because it just demonstrates there's a healthy audience for comedy in movie theatres, and spoof in particular."

Renewed Disapproval Over Financial Aspects

Yet, Zucker resumed his criticism 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 invested heavily on scenes with impressive technical effects 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 new Naked Gun."