The Naked Gun Director Talks Spoof 'Rules' And The Reboot's Funniest Moments [Exclusive Interview]

Comedy is back in theaters in a big way this weekend with the arrival of the "Naked Gun" reboot. This time, Liam Neeson stars in the spoof comedy as Frank Drebin Jr., son of Leslie Nielsen's detective character form the original parody franchise, and director Akiva Shaffer ("Hot Rod," "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping," and "Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers") is at the helm, keeping the spirit of the beloved comedy film series alive while also injecting it with just enough modern flare to keep it fresh.

Tackling such a revered property is no easy feat, and even Shaffer himself was skeptical that a reboot of "The Naked Gun" was even possible. But the casting of Neeson is what helped bring everything together for him, and it was off to the races. However, even with Neeson in the lead role, there was still quite the challenge of satisfying longtime spoof fans while updating things for a new audience, a hurdle that is laid out early in the movie when Frank Drebin Jr. says to a memorial photo of his father, "I want to be just like you but at the same time be completely different and original."

Thankfully, Shaffer has updated "The Naked Gun" for modern audiences without losing any of its classic comedic charm. There are endless slapstick bits, silly puns, complete absurdity, and just enough naughtiness to bring some more mature laughs without falling outside of the PG-13 rating, which is an impressive tightrope walk. In addition to spoofing classic cop shows, Shaffer also uses franchises like "John Wick" and "Mission: Impossible" for joke fodder without losing what made the original franchise great.

We interviewed Shaffer just a couple days before the release of "The Naked Gun," and we talked about the "rules" of spoof comedy (including those established by the "Airplane!" and original "Naked Gun" filmmaking trio of David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker, or ZAZ), some of the funniest bits in the movie, and a couple cameos that you're gonna have to keep your ears peeled for.

Ethan Anderton: To start with, initially, I know that when you were approached about the "Naked Gun" reboot, you didn't think it was necessarily a good idea. Was there a specific eureka moment that changed your mind, or did you really just have to sit and ponder it before you kind of came around to the idea?

Akiva Shaffer: I mean, yes, I have mentioned that in various interviews, but the truth is it was like three sentences later when they went, "Liam Neeson is attached, or loosely attached," and I was like, "Ah, all right." Honestly, it wasn't even on the Zoom. It was probably my agent being like, "Yo, they want to talk to you about 'Naked Gun,'" and me being as pessimistic as I would assume everybody is.

Everyone, in this day and age, you hear something that you love being done, you go, "All right, what are they gonna mess up next?" I'm the same as everybody else. But then you also have that little bit of curiosity of like, "But I am curious what they're doing." Then they're like, "Liam Neeson's loosely attached," and I was like, "Oh, s**t." Then I actually had some time to think about it.

It was summer. I was on vacation, actually, with my family, so I had a lot of time to think about it. By the time I actually got on the Zoom with some people from Fuzzy Door and some people from Paramount, I kind of had my full idea that I could be like, "All right, but if it's me, here's what I'm thinking." Not for the plot but just for all the choices that were in the teaser, like what will it look like? What will it sound like? What [are] the tropes? What genres are we making fun of while honoring the spirit of the originals? Like, what am I bringing forward to make it a 'Naked Gun' from the old ones that we all love, but what am I leaving in the past to not just make it another tired thing? That's the goal.

Obviously the movies of Zucker and Abrahams and Zucker really informed your sense of humor, and Mel Brooks and Austin Powers. I was wondering, in addition to rewatching them to kind of figure out what makes them tick and what the magic is, did you watch any of the, shall we say, less unfortunate spoofs as a guide to what not to do?

No, no, I did not. I saw maybe, let's say, 50% until they really were just like, I don't even — People have brought up some to me, and I'm like, "I never even heard of that one." So I, like maybe everybody else who loves the genre, followed it down to a certain part and then had to say uncle on them. But no, I did not do that. But I remember enough to know what I like and what I don't like.

Watching the really good ones was just informative about how important momentum is on time. It was less about even the jokes. It was about story and about when to really try to pay attention to the story and when to give the audience credit that they know everything and go, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, f**k this story," and try to set up all the rules just so you can break them and set them up again.

[We saw] how the genre parody is so important, 'cause the whole thing's an impression and you have to keep grounding it and breaking it and grounding it and breaking it. All the kind of stuff like that is what I was really kind of reminding myself of when me and writers Dan [Gregor] and Doug [Mand], we give each other homework assignments, like, "All right, tonight I'm going home and watching this. Tonight I'm watching that." But for the most part, there aren't that many that are really the excellent, excellent ones. Most of our time was spent watching action movies and noir.

Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker also had their own certain rules and guidelines for how to make their comedies work. Did you find yourself trying to stick to those, or were you fine with bending those and breaking them here and there to fit your own style?

I feel like even when you read their rules, you can find examples in their work of breaking it, you know? But I think that they're genius guys that we all love. I had the honor of getting to go to David's house while I was writing and chill with him and ask him tons of questions, and he showed me props from the movies. I saw the Anal Intruder box. That's from "Top Secret!," just for those who know.

So, I revere those rules, but I also was like,"I don't need to follow them exactly. It's funny, even in their movies, studying the structure of "Naked Gun," story-wise, it's incredible the amount of times a character is one way in one scene and then the opposite way in the next scene. Part of their genius is they knew that that was fine. I think other people would read that script and go, "Wait, she's like a damsel in distress in this scene, and then the next scene, she's like a sex pot, like a honey trap." That's two different femme fatale tropes, but you watch it, and she's just Jane, and she's so funny, and you are fine 'cause you just know, "Now I'm in this scene, now I'm in this scene.'"

But I think lesser comedic geniuses would not know to do that. So, it was also amazing watching it with a fine tooth comb going like, "God, they knew just when to break the rules and just when to do crazy s**t."

I want to compliment you too, because I was wondering if there would be more recognizable cameos in the movie, but I think you guys showed just the right amount of restraint by not bringing in people for smaller supporting roles who are known for being funny.

I was really strict of no comedians in the movie, which was a minor fight throughout. Not throughout, but for a while, just 'cause people would be like, "No, but put that funny person in. Why wouldn't you put..." and I would just be like, "We're not making just a cop comedy. We're making 'Naked Gun.'"

Yeah, exactly.

So, there were certain things where I wouldn't bend. That's what I mean. Like, I was carrying forward the spirit of what I consider is the DNA that makes 'Naked Gun' 'Naked Gun.' Anything else is off the table. But dramatic actors, it was like, it has to be that.

I did notice though, that Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone have voice roles. Where do they pop up?

They're so small and little, and that's just in [sound] mix. That was in the last week of working on the movie, where I'm mixing the whole thing and you're putting in loop group, and then I need some sound for this or some sound for that. [Editor's Note: loop group is an assembly of voice actors who provide background audio for movies and TV shows.] Half of them are my voice, because in editorial, I'd say it into my iPhone when I needed something, just to have it in there. Some are my editor. Almost everybody in that little chunk is like the editor assistant, the [production assistant] who got us food. 'Cause when I needed a voice, I'd be like, "Come in here. Yell, 'Ow!'" And they'd go and I go, "Okay, good." Then some of it gets replaced by loop group and professionals, but some of it I'm like, "No, that's gotten the laugh at all the test screenings. Leave it in. Let's just give them credit."

I wanted just to be cute to have Jorma and Andy in there somewhere. I was so strict about the no comedians that I didn't even give myself a cameo. Usually I throw myself in somewhere in the movie, and I was like, "Nope, I can't be in that." But a voice in the background saying, "Ow," or whatever they're doing. But anyways, I leave it to people to see if they can figure out where they are, right? It's underwhelming, I promise you that.

All right, so I wanna get specific. I talked to Dan Gregor and Doug Mand about the Snowman's Cottage sequence, which is just like a showstopper of a sequence. I was laughing so hard at that. I know that you said that the idea just kind of popped into your head early one morning, but I was curious if there were any other drastically different versions of that scene before you had that idea and what they were like?

That's a great question. We definitely wrote some other montages, but I do not recall what they were. They were fine, but none of them felt different enough. Not different enough from the old "Naked Gun" one but just different enough from all of the making fun of montages that have happened in the last 30 years. It is well-worn territory. The first "Naked Gun" one is classic, and then there's so many others. The one that always comes to mind is like "Team America," "You need a montage." Like, once they have the song talking about it, they've really broken it. I wish I do remember, but I don't remember the other ones. There was no debate. Once I wrote that one, we were all like, "Good."

The one final bit that I wanna talk about is the TiVo bit, which feels so personal and specific, and it just comes out of nowhere. What was the inception of that?

It's so funny 'cause in some of these interviews, I talk a lot about momentum and how the movie just had to move, and how if a joke didn't work, I would always cut it. Even things that went further, like sometimes we'd cut the last beat off if it climaxed at one part. Then when it gets to the "Buffy" joke, it's indefensible. That's just me. 

It's the only joke that's still makes me laugh. I've seen the movie a thousand times, scrutinized every frame. It's all just like ones and zeros to me now of color and sound and mix. None of it makes me laugh anymore. That joke still makes me laugh every time. It was always polarizing. Half the audience would be like, "Do not touch it. It's the best joke in the movie." And half the audience would be like, "Get that out of here. I don't even have a clue what that was."

It's so good. Especially the silence there, when he's like, "Hold on," and he's hooking it up and waiting for it to boot up.

Yeah, "Just stand there. Just stand there." I think even for people who don't love it, if they watched the movie another time or two more times now knowing it, I think it will become their favorite joke.
 That's how much I believe in it. 

I had to tell Liam, "No, I know that one doesn't — It only plays for half the audience." It's just my favorite and I like that we don't explain it. I think there's a lot of people also that by the time he's in the [...], when he's in the cab, after the cab ride, and he's got the TiVo, there's people that laugh there and I go like, "I think there's some people that are just watching it trying to figure out where it's going and what it is as a joke, because I don't recognize its format from anything." It's Liam's performance that kills it.

Absolutely.

He's just so dedicated. So, I think those people then will be laughing from the beginning the next time. You know what I mean? But I have to admit, it was self-indulgent. I know.

"The Naked Gun" is playing in theaters now.