“The Naked Cannon” and its two sequels “The Naked Cannon 2 1/2” and “The Naked Cannon 33 1/3” still enjoy absolute cult status among comedy fans today. As the crazy cop Frank Drebin (whom he first embodied in the TV series ‘The Naked Gun’), comedy legend Leslie Nielsen delivered countless hilarious, memorable moments and quote-worthy quotes.
No wonder people don’t want to put such an iconic series to rest in the long term. And so, after a failed fourth part, plans for a reboot of the franchise first arose more than ten years ago. Ultimately, though, they came to nothing again — until ‘Ted’ and ‘Family Guy’ creator Seth MacFarlane revived the project in 2021 and even then dreamed of portraying Liam Neeson, who was an action star in the later years of his career to be cast in the lead role, which MacFarlane had previously cast as the villain in his comedy ‘A Million Ways To Die In The West’.
The last major update came in 2022 with the announcement of Akiva Schaffer as director and Dan Gregor and Doug Mand as screenwriters (Seth MacFarlane was also still on board as producer). The member of the comedy group The Lonely Island and the two writers had previously created the meta-adventure ‘Chip and Chap – Knights of the Law’ together. Since then, things have been quiet on the project again – until now!
Because now it has not only been confirmed that the new edition of ‘The Naked Cannon’ will still come with the same team in front of and behind the camera, but a concrete release date has also been announced. The new “The naked cannon“The film is scheduled to hit U.S. theaters on July 15, 2024. However, there is no date for Germany yetbut we should probably know in about a year and a half how Liam Neeson is faring as Leslie Nielsen’s successor.