It has taken some time, but the planned reboot of “The Naked Gun” franchise appears to be moving forward after various creative differences and script rewrites over the years
In October last year, Paramount Pictures finally gave the green light to the project, which will see Liam Neeson taking on the lead role of Frank Drebin, Jr., son of Leslie Nielsen’s Police Squad detective.
“Chip n Dale: Rescue Rangers” writers Dan Gregor and Doug Mand have closed a deal to reunite with that film’s director Akiva Schaffer on the project with Seth MacFarlane and Erica Huggins producing.
Out doing early promotion for his one-hundredth film to date “Marlowe,” a film centering on author Raymond Chandler’s iconic character Philip Marlowe, Neeson spoke with Collider about how the new “Naked Gun” is progressing:
“Yes, we’re waiting on a script… we’re hoping it’ll happen this year, maybe in the summertime. Yeah, [it’s a priority for] Paramount Studios, I think. I approached Seth MacFarlane, he and his team are working on it, the scripts. So, we’re hoping to go in the summertime, you know?”
Additional cast members for the new ‘Gun’ have yet to be announced.
Speaking of resurrected franchises, the success of the recent “Predator” prequel/spin-off “Prey” has led to hope for more entries in that series, be it a direct sequel or similar standalone historical tales that incorporate the alien hunters.
Amber Midthunder, who starred in the recent film, spoke to Variety on the red carpet for the BAFTA Tea Party this week and was asked if a sequel might happen. She says:
“I don’t have a date for you. This is not an announcement, but I’m not saying it’s not [happening]. We talk all the time about all kinds of things, and [the Prey sequel] was probably one… I’m ready. I loved that experience, I loved that movie, and I would be happy to see where else we can take it.”
“Prey” was released on Hulu in 2022 and saw Midthunder play a young Comanche woman who goes toe-to-toe against a Predator. Hulu never released viewing numbers, but the film scored very well with both critics and audiences on review sites.
