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Taken star Liam Neeson and Last Showgirl Pamela Anderson are the comedy couple you didn't know you wanted in The Naked Gun reboot trailer

The new Naked Gun movie comes from the director behind Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, which is a good sign for dumb jokes

News by Graeme McMillan, Editor

Published on Mon Jun 16 2025

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The very idea of a new Naked Gun movie without Leslie Neilsen might seem near-blasphemy to fans of the purposefully silly cop parody series from decades past, but given the talent of those involved — it’s directed by The Lonely Island’s Akiva Schaffer! It stars Pamela Anderson and Liam Neeson! — we’re pretty much convinced that it’s going to be worth checking out… and the new trailer only makes us more certain that this is a sequel that might live up to what’s come before.

Neeson plays Lt. Frank Drebin Jr., the son of Neilsen’s character from the original movies (and Police Squad, the 1980s TV show that started it all way back when). As the trailer makes clear, he’s every bit as clumsy, inept, and intense as his father — and, given that it’s Neeson, maybe a little bit more intense, because that’s just the way Liam Neeson is. The plot of the whole thing isn’t the point, though, and that’s what this trailer gets very right. A Naked Gun movie is all about very stupid jokes, visual gags, slapstick innuendo, and a cop who just keeps having trouble with his car — all boxes checked ably in the new sneak peek. Take a look for yourself:

Between this and the new Spaceballs movie announcement, it feels like we’re seeing a new trend shape up right in front of our eyes. What’s next, a sequel to I’m Gonna Git You Sucka? (Oh please, oh please, oh please…)

Judging from the trailer, the new Naked Gun is certainly being true to the series’ formula, but is that the kind of thing that today’s movie audiences are looking for? We’ll find out when the movie hits theaters August 1 — but, if nothing else, we’re here for the continuation of the Pamela Anderson revival after last year’s The Last Showgirl. Maybe we should be hoping for Barb Wire 2 in the next few years…

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Graeme McMillan: Popverse Editor Graeme McMillan (he/him) has been writing about comics, culture, and comics culture on the internet for close to two decades at this point, which is terrifying to admit. He completely understands if you have problems understanding his accent.