Why did Liam Neeson agree to star in the reboot of Is There a Cop?
The Taken star will succeed Leslie Nielsen next May.
To prepare for the release ofIn the Land of Saints and Sinnerscarried by a cast of talented Irish actors, Liam Neeson confides in The Hollywood Reporter. He explains in particular why he agreed to participate in the reboot of one of the most famous comic sagas in the history of American cinema: he will soon be the new hero of Is there a cop…?
The famous blundering policeman Frank Debrin was played by Leslie Nielsen in Is there a cop to save the queen? (1989), Is there a cop to save the president? (1991) and Is there a cop to save Hollywood? (1994).
Since the actor's death in 2010, there has been regular talk of a reboot (ten years ago, for example Ed Helms Very Bad Trip who was courted), and Liam Neeson surprised everyone at the end of 2022 by announcing that he was ready to sign to wear this new version. Not necessarily in the shoes of Frank, but undoubtedly his son, in a comedy produced by Seth MacFarlane (Ted), written by Dan Gregor and Doug Mand (Chip and Dale, the Risk Rangers) and directed by Akiva Schaffer (Lonely Island). Neeson could give the answer to Sandra Hüllerjust acclaimed in Hollywood for Anatomy of a fallby Justine Triet, and by The Area of Interestby Jonathan Glazer.
When THR asks him why he signed to relaunch The Naked GunLiam Neeson enthuses:
“It's funny, because a little before Christmas, my sons and I wanted to watch something stupid. We were searching through the Oscar Academy screeners looking for a stupid comedy, a light film for a laugh. . There weren't any, obviously. They were all dramatic, even internationally. Brilliant films, eh, but really dark. When Seth MacFarlane approached me to talk about The Naked Gun -this was two years ago already- I said to myself: 'Yeah, I think I could play that, as long as I do it terribly seriously and don't try to imitate Mr. Leslie Nielsen.' This actor was wonderful. Akiva Schaffer is going to direct the new movie, he's a guy from the SNL world. I can't wait to get started, we have a good script, there are several moments where we laugh heartily.”
A little later in the interview, Liam Neeson specifies that he is not quite finished with his action films in the style Takenbefore concluding : “Right now I'm just focusing on The Naked Gun. We're going to start filming in May. In May or June, and it will be filmed in Atlanta, Georgia. After that… we'll see. There is nothing definitively fixed.”
The Naked Gun is expected from July 28, 2025 in cinemas. In the Land of Saints and Sinners is currently viewable on Prime Video. Here is its trailer:
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