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The original director of The Naked Gun, David Zucker, has reignited his criticism concerning the newly released revival featuring Liam Neeson, after briefly appearing to soften his stance in the aftermath of the film's cinema debut.

Director's Disapproval of the New Film's Style

In a recent interview, Zucker expressed that Seth MacFarlane, the producer behind the new Naked Gun and previously the director and co-writer of the Ted movies, "totally missed" the spoof-comedy style 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, began creating spoof comedies 50 years ago, and we developed a unique approach – and we executed it so effectively that it looks easy, evidently. People started copying it, like Seth MacFarlane for the recent reboot. He completely misunderstood it."

He added: "It might appear that we're just randomly trying ideas to see what sticks, but we're not. Consideration is involved."

Leslie Nielsen's Legacy

Zucker added that it was pointless to produce the film without Leslie Nielsen, who portrayed the iconic character and passed away in 2010, saying: "They tried to replace Leslie Nielsen in the new Naked Gun, and you can't replace him. No one else can do that."

Previous Reservations 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 enthusiastic regarding having the franchise given to different individuals". Adding: "They have not contacted me to appear briefly or be involved in the writing. Regardless of if they're going to do a good job with it, this style of parody, I mean it's not rocket science, but it is challenging."

Nonetheless, after a string of positive reviews and strong box office returns following its launch in August, Zucker struck a more conciliatory tone, commenting: "I'm excited about it because it just shows that there's a strong market for comedy in cinemas, and spoof in particular."

Return to Criticism Over Financial Aspects

However, 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 spent a lot of money on scenes full of technical pizzazz while trying to copy our style."

Zucker further noted: "Financial motives drive everyone currently, and that feels like the only reason why they wanted to do a new Naked Gun."