Liam Neeson has scored his best box office opening in nearly ten years with The Naked Gun, a reboot of the beloved slapstick franchise. The film is projected to earn $16.5 million domestically in its opening weekend, making it Neeson’s highest-grossing debut since Taken 3 in 2015.
Directed by Akiva Schaffer and co-written with Dan Gregor and Doug Mand, the 2025 comedy sees Neeson take on the role of Frank Drebin Jr., the bumbling cop and son of Leslie Nielsen’s iconic character from the original Naked Gun trilogy and Police Squad! series.
This puts The Naked Gun in rare air among Neeson’s post-action peak releases. Since his breakout turn as a late-career action hero in Taken (2008), few of his solo-led films have matched those early 2010s numbers. Hits like Non-Stop ($28.9M), Unknown ($21.8M), and The Grey ($19.7M) showed promise, but more recent fare such as Cold Pursuit and The Commuter failed to deliver the same spark.
As per reports, “It did not take long for many to realize that Neeson was the perfect person to take over the franchise from Nielsen, who plays the character of Frank Drebin Jr. with all the gravitas and growl of his many action roles, while coming out with the most ridiculous lines and performing some bonkers stunts and fight scenes.”
Directed by Akiva Schaffer (Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping) and co-written with Dan Gregor and Doug Mand, The Naked Gun leans all the way into absurdity—embracing the legacy of the original Police Squad! series and the three hit movies that followed. With Neeson anchoring the film, Pamela Anderson delivering a well-timed supporting turn, and even a surprise cameo from a beloved Marvel actor, the movie is resonating with both critics and audiences alike.
Critics have responded enthusiastically: the film debuted to a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 206 critic reviews, the best-reviewed entry in the franchise to date. Audience scores are solid, too, with a 77% rating—many calling it the “silly and hilarious comedy we all need in the world right now.”
Neeson’s early credits included roles in offbeat comedies like High Spirits and ensemble rom-com Love, Actually, before Taken transformed him into an unlikely action star at 56. His recent appearances in Ted 2, Anchorman 2, and Daddy’s Home 2 hinted at his natural comedic timing, but The Naked Gun proves he can headline the genre with just as much bite as any thriller.
Now, with glowing reviews, a box office milestone, and a wave of audience goodwill behind him, Liam Neeson may be charting a brand-new course—not just as a brooding action lead, but as an aging action-comedy icon. For a franchise built on gags, pratfalls, and deadpan absurdity, The Naked Gun may have just delivered the most unexpected punchline of all: Liam Neeson, comedy king.
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