Cancelled attempt with Leslie Nielsen Although
33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994) was intended to be the final installment in the
Naked Gun franchise, in 2009, it was revealed that a fourth film starring
Leslie Nielsen was planned as a direct-to-TV sequel, titled
The Naked Gun: What 4? The Rhythm of Evil. The script followed the story of
Frank training a young rookie, but due to financial reasons, it was canceled in 2009. It was written by
Alan Spencer, who said he signed on to write the film as a "rescue mission" to save an inferior sequel from happening, and impressed
Paramount executives and online reviewers so much that it was briefly shifted to the theatrical department, while the
Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker team, original writers of the saga, tried to stop it from happening. Spencer wrote a sizable role for Nielsen, who would be passing the torch to a new generation of incompetent police, but Paramount asked him to reduce the part to a cameo for budgetary reasons, and later decided to remove his character altogether. After this last request, Spencer left the project. Nielsen died in November 2010.
First development with Ed Helms In December 2013,
Paramount Pictures announced that a reboot of
The Naked Gun franchise was in development with
Ed Helms cast in the role of
Frank Drebin, while the script was being co-written by
Thomas Lennon and
Robert Ben Garant. By January 2014, Garant revealed that the
working title of the project was
Episode IV: A New Hope, while announcing that it was intended to be a sequel to the original films. Helms was intended to portray a character that introduces himself as "Frank Drebin, no relation" so that the movie can introduce a new protagonist without contradicting what came before. In March 2015,
David Zucker stated that he was offered a
producing role on the project, but had declined to be involved because he felt like it would differ in
comedic style and ultimately be
inferior to his original films. In August 2015, Helms confirmed that the script was still being written, while acknowledging the concerns that Zucker had with modern-day audience reception, and a need for something other than the
spoof genre of the previous movies.
Second development with David Zucker and Pat Proft By March 2017, a re-write of the script was being completed by David Zucker and
Pat Proft, with the plot being reworked to feature the son of Frank Drebin, who would have been a secret agent rather than a policeman. The script was originally titled
The Naked Gun 444 1/4: Nordberg Did It, but was later renamed
Naked: Impossible, parodying the
Mission: Impossible,
Bourne and
Daniel Craig James Bond franchises
. Zucker felt that "they don't make cop movies anymore. When you do parody, you've got to spoof something current." According to Zucker, Jon Gonda at
Paramount liked the script, written by him and
Pat Proft that was presented to the studio in 2018, but that somewhere along the line the studio decided not to go with it. Zucker also said that he went on a meeting with Paramount in around 2019, where a female head of production complained over a "mild" joke about a "police officer having to adjust her Kevlar vest or have a breast reduction". He explained saying that a "stupid, mild joke" was too much for them [Paramount].
Third development with Seth MacFarlane In January 2021, it was announced that
Seth MacFarlane had been hired to further develop the project. After MacFarlane had previously expressed interest in casting
Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin Jr. in 2015, he was hired by the studio. MacFarlane and Paramount approached Neeson with a pitch to star in the movie. In June, Neeson said MacFarlane was working on a new draft of the script, with the studio additionally negotiating his potential role as director. He expressed excitement at the opportunity to explore a more comedic role should he decide to star in the movie, while saying that development on the project was ongoing. In February 2022, Neeson again confirmed that Paramount was still courting him to star in the legacy sequel. In October 2022, the film was greenlit with Neeson in the lead role as Frank Drebin Jr. and
Akiva Schaffer directing. Dan Gregor and Doug Mand were hired to write a new draft of the script from a previous draft with contributions from
Mark Hentemann and
Alec Sulkin. In December 2024, it was determined by the
Writers Guild of America that Gregor, Mand, and Schaffer would be credited on the screenplay while Hentemann, MacFarlane, and Sulkin contributed additional literary material. MacFarlane and Erica Huggins served as producers, under their production company
Fuzzy Door Productions, with Domain Entertainment providing additional funding. Zucker was again offered a credit on the film, as an executive producer, but he declined, saying he did not wish to claim credit for a project he was not involved with. Zucker said after the film's release that he had no intention of watching it (as was standard procedure for him regarding sequels to his work) but was pleased it was a success and was on good terms with the director and writing crew. He had declined to get involved in the film mainly because he believed he would have done the film differently. Anderson was originally offered the role of Tanya Peters in
The Final Insult before the role eventually went to
Anna Nicole Smith. In May,
Paul Walter Hauser joined the cast, playing Capt. Ed Hocken, alongside
Kevin Durand in an undisclosed villain role, as well as
Danny Huston,
Liza Koshy,
Cody Rhodes,
CCH Pounder and
Busta Rhymes.
Filming Principal photography began on May 6, 2024, in
Atlanta under the
working title Law of Toughness, and had
wrapped on June 28. ==Release==