Liam Neeson says he’s been approached to be part of a new Naked Gun movie – with Seth MacFarlane steering the ship.
Thanks to a generous sprinkling of Robert Mark Kamen B-movie magic, the movie Taken proved to be quite the phenomenon. I’ll never forget the hairs standing on the back of my neck as Liam Neeson delivered his telephone monologue and the true nature of the film’s plot came into focus. Trash gold. A nasty film with horrendous subtexts but also any number of brilliant ideas.
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Taken changed Neeson’s career for sure, setting in motion a whole domino rally of action roles, a kind of second wind sub-career that has reinvented his public persona completely. It seems like the logical conclusion to this phase of Neeson’s work would be his new archetype eating itself.
And that’s the plan, according to a new interview with People.
“I’ve been approached by Seth McFarlane [sic] and Paramount Studios to maybe resurrect the Naked Gun films,” says Neeson. He then added, in a seemingly affirmative sense, “It’ll either finish my career or bring it in another direction. I honestly don’t know.”
I’m not sure MacFarlane would be my first choice for this project but there’s little chance we’ll end up with another Tooken from this collaboration.
With Police Squad, the sublime TV original that first brought Naked Gun’s Frank Drebin character to the screen, a good part of the genius was in casting Leslie Nielsen and exploiting his flair for ultra-deadpan, super-dry delivery.
If the same trick is to work again, then Neeson (Nielsen/Neeson, how odd) will likely need to play the part with the same stony demeanour as his recent run of action hero parts.
Just a few years ago, it was Ed Helms was in the frame for a new Drebin. That project presumably died a death in development.
There’s some way to go before this particular version becomes a reality, but there’s a good chance of it coming together… surely?
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