Should you had grown up with the unique “Bare Gun” trilogy (1988-1994) like author/director Akiva Schaffer, likelihood is you, too, would’ve thought a 2025 franchise reboot was a horrible concept.
Schaffer, 47, watched the unique “Bare Gun” numerous instances in center and highschool, however his “trepidation and pessimism” when he acquired a name concerning the remake went past the standard kneejerk nostalgia to guard a cherished childhood reminiscence. The “SNL” and Lonely Island alum is as severe a scholar of spoofs as anybody in comedy, and it was his appreciable skilled opinion {that a} reboot was a idiot’s errand.
“I positively thought it was a nasty concept,” mentioned Schaffer when he was a visitor on this week’s episode of IndieWire’s Filmmaker Toolkit podcast to debate his new “The Bare Gun.” “The primary film, particularly, is an ideal film. It’s nearly a magic trick. Each time you suppose you discovered what they did to make it work by way of the foundations, the subsequent scene breaks that rule in a manner — by some means, their instincts have been so good as to what the viewers cared about and didn’t care about.”
Schaffer mentioned he took the assembly with Paramount out of “morbid curiosity,” questioning what the studio’s plans have been for the revered property.
“The factor that modified my thoughts was them saying Liam Neeson was ,” mentioned Schaffer.
One of many keys to success for brothers David and Jerry Zucker, together with Jim Abrahams —the ZAZ producing-directing trio behind “Airplane,” “Prime Secret,” and the “Bare Gun” movies— was the casting of dramatic actors in Hollywood’s first spoof movies.
“It’s not that they’re enjoying it straight; it’s that they’re enjoying it actual,” mentioned Schaffer. “When individuals consider enjoying it straight, they consider enjoying it severe, that means they may get very humorless and flat, and it’s not that. It’s that you just’re enjoying it such as you’re an actor who’s so dumb, they don’t know that what they’re saying is loopy. That it’s so real.”
Schaffer is just not alone in believing nobody was higher at this than the unique “Bare Gun” star Leslie Nielsen, however extra importantly, getting into his Detective Frank Drebin’s footwear can be a mistake.
“Leslie Nielsen is irreplaceable, one in every of one, as they are saying,” mentioned Schaffer. “Any actor that will be making an attempt to do a Leslie Nielsen impression of any kind can be a failing concept.”
The explanation the opportunity of Neeson intrigued Schaffer, opening the door a crack to the potential of doing the reboot? A four-minute bit the “Taken” star did in Warwick Davis, Stephen Service provider, and Ricky Gervais’ 2011 comedy sequence “Life’s Too Brief.”
It’s a widely known clip in comedy circles that Schaffer had watched numerous instances. Within the scene, Neeson performs a extreme model of himself, the dramatic actor eager to attempt his hand at comedy, however seemingly unaware that AIDS, most cancers, famine, and his “Schindler’s Listing” preparation aren’t appropriate comedic premises to riff off. You’ll be able to watch the scene under.
“It’s all in that clip. He’s enjoying Liam Neeson in it, however it’s clearly a caricature. That’s an amalgamation of each motion film he’s made for the final 10 years, and he’s enjoying it so severe and so humorless and saying loopy shit,” mentioned Schaffer. “That’s additionally why after they mentioned Liam Neeson, I went, ‘Oh,’ as a result of once you see that clip, you’re like, what a tremendous untapped useful resource. The leading-man, old-school gravitas — that doesn’t exist anymore, but additionally [he] hasn’t used his energy for comedy but, nearly ever, besides that clip and a cameo in ‘Ted 2.’”
Schaffer pointed to different good-looking main males, like Alec Baldwin and Jon Hamm, who had efficiently made the pivot to comedy, however afterwards saved one profession foot firmly planted within the comedy world.
“Liam by no means did that pivot. He’s simply actually uncommon in that manner,” mentioned Schaffer. “It let me know that we wouldn’t be doing an impersonation.”
With Neeson, there can be no have to attempt to replicate or impersonate Nielsen’s work within the Eighties and ’90s movies. Neeson would as a substitute draw from his personal well-established, onscreen dramatic persona.
“What you see in that Gervais clip, what he confirmed me, he’s prepared to poke enjoyable at this iconic persona he’s been growing,” mentioned Schaffer. “I could possibly be like, ‘Oh, that’s who he’s. That’s his model of it.’ It’s not Leslie’s model. That particularly is why Liam opened it up, as a result of I may see a brand new model taking place.”
Initially of Schaffer’s 2025 “Bare Gun,” it’s established that Neeson’s Detective Drebin is the son of the Nielsen character. His character honors his father’s legacy, from which he may draw classes, however he’s his personal man residing in his personal time. It’s a tidy analogy for a way Neeson’s presence allowed Schaffer to strategy the unique movies.
A Paramount Photos launch, “The Bare Gun” is now in theaters.
To listen to Akiva Schaffer‘s full interview, subscribe to the Filmmaker Toolkit podcast on Apple, Spotify, or your favourite podcast platform.