Go see any movie in a theater, and more likely than not, The Naked Gun is bringing the house down. All signs are positive in the lead-up to the release of this legacy sequel to the comedy trilogy by Jerry Zucker, David Zucker, and Jim Abrahams, and I couldn’t be more relieved. With the endangered state of studio comedies, it often feels like everyone forgot how to make a broad, down-the-middle comedy that didn’t moonlight as an action-thriller and/or feature superheroes or pro wrestlers as the stars. Director Akiva Schaffer and producer Seth MacFarlane, copying the playbook of Zuckers and Abrahams, are teasing a wall-to-wall joke machine, with the humor deriving from an all-out manic screwball energy that tries its absolute hardest to make you laugh. Because most comedies are so quippy and tongue-in-cheek, this farcical subgenre of comedies is more vital than ever.

‘The Naked Gun’ Understands Its Source Material

From the get-go, The Naked Gun has been properly cared for, and MacFarlane and his team have demonstrated an astute understanding of what made the original film so special. First and foremost, they nailed the casting of Liam Neeson, a historically dramatic actor with steep gravitas and a stern delivery similar to that of Leslie Nielsen, as the new Frank Drebin. Personally, due to my lowered standards for studio comedies, I was half-expecting to see Ryan Reynolds or Dwayne Johnson be woefully miscast as a character who needs to be unassuming. Pamela Anderson, a celebrity figure more often found in the tabloids than on the big screen, is a perfect comp for Priscilla Presley in the original series.

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The screwball comedy subgenre is as old as the film medium itself, but its most popular permutation is the classic romantic comedy, perfected by directors such as George Cukor, Howard Hawks, and Preston Sturges. The films by the Zuckers and Abrahams are not innately romantic and sentimental, which doesn’t necessarily qualify them as screwball, but they capture the manic energy of films like His Girl Friday and The Lady Eve. The original Naked Gun, running under 90 minutes, moves at a breakneck speed, leaving no stone unturned in the joke department. Anything new in the scenery or plot could be deployed in the Zucker-Abrahams laugh factory.

Akiva Schaffer, one of the founders of The Lonely Island, a comedy group specializing in farce and unorthodox sources of humor, is well-equipped to honor the zany spirit of the original film and revive the uninspired state of studio comedies. His two films with Andy Samberg, Hot Rod and Popstar, only became beloved retroactively. This time, let’s actually appreciate one of his movies upon release. The throughline between The Naked Gun and The Lonely Island is their earnest brand of comedy. While irreverent and proudly lowbrow at times, there is none of that glib, too-cool-for-school type of humor embodied by the likes of Ryan Reynolds or Chris Pratt or seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The Screwball Energy of ‘The Naked Gun’ Can Revive Studio Comedies

Because comedy as a genre is almost exclusively now integrated into action and superhero movies, comedy itself becomes a half-measure, with most directors afraid to lean into the absurdity and goofiness of any character or situation. Both trailers for the upcoming film are so achingly sincere and unafraid to be juvenile, with the latest extended trailer deploying blue humor and knowingly corny play on words and misunderstandings. The original series threw every kind of joke at you—slapstick, puns, sight gags, subtle malapropisms, and fourth wall breaks. Even if a joke didn’t land (which was a rarity), you admire the writer’s and filmmakers’ efforts to put on a spectacle.

Speaking of spectacle, the most troubling void in cinematic comedy in 2025 is its lack of theatricality. With the mainstream merely using comedy as a device in $200 million sci-fi blockbusters, broad comedies have more or less been relegated to the indie sphere. Films like Bottoms and Friendship are charmingly low-stakes and intimate, but these comedies with easy-to-sell premises used to be produced by major studios with a mid-budget and a stacked ensemble cast.

It’s not that The Naked Gun is some Shakespearean text, but the source material offers the grand and high-octane energy that comedy movies have been bereft of for the last decade. When the first Naked Gun was released, the biggest movie star in the world was Eddie Murphy, and something like 3 Men and a Baby could be the highest-grossing movie of the year. As purposefully frivolous and juvenile as the material in these films is, they give comedy the royal treatment by centering the narrative around jokes. By shifting the focus away from major global stars with instant IP recognition and towards simply making a broad audience laugh, The Naked Gun is rediscovering the artful component of comedy, as weird as that sounds coming from a movie certain to have a fair share of fart jokes.

The Naked Gun

Release Date

August 1, 2025

Producers

Erica Huggins

Franchise(s)

The Naked Gun