The Naked Gun Reboot Adds WWE’s Cody Rhodes, CCH Pounder and Busta Rhymes

Production on The Naked Gun starring Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, and Danny Huston is underway, and we’ve now learned the identity of the final few cast members that will be included in the reboot. Neeson will take on the part made famous by Leslie Nielsen in the 1980s, first on television in Police Squad!, and then on the big screen in The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad, and its two sequels. While Nielsen portrayed Lt. Frank Drebin, Neeson is set to portray his son in the slapstick comedy, Lt. Frank Drebin Jr.

As per Deadline, the new cast members announced include Liza Koshy (Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts), WWE Undisputed Champion Cody Rhodes, CCH Pounder (Rustin) and Busta Rhymes. At this point, the only confirmed roles include Neeson as Drebin Jr., and Hauser as Ed, his partner, so it’s unclear in what capacity everyone else will appear. It is understood that Kevin Durand will be playing the film’s villain, while Cody Rhodes will only be making a cameo appearance due to his commitments as WWE Champion.

Though The Naked Gun reboot has been in development since 2013, things really got moving in 2021 when Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy) was brought on board to help develop the project. The film was officially given the green light in 2022 when it was announced that Liam Neeson would be starring in the lead role, with direction by Akiva Schaffer. While MacFarlane helped develop the story, screenwriting credits go to Schaffer as well as Dan Gregor, Doug Mand, Alec Sulkin, and Mark Hentemann.

Liam Neeson is Nervous About The Naked Gun and His Comedic Abilities

Known for its zany comedy and bawdy humor, The Naked Gun franchise was a bona fide moneymaker in the 1980s and into the 90s, grossing over $476 million dollars across three films against a total combined budget of just $65 million. It was Leslie Nielsen’s comedic style and timing along with its A-list cameos that helped propel the franchise to popularity, which makes the casting of Liam Neeson somewhat of an odd choice given his penchant for more dramatic roles.

It’s a choice that isn’t lost on the 71-year-old Irish actor, who spoke with MovieWeb earlier this year and made mention of the fact that while he’s done short comedy bits here and there, he’s nervous about his ability to carry that humor over the length of a feature film.

“I’ve done a couple of, like, TV skits with Stephen Colbert and Ricky Gervais, but those were two minutes, three minutes tops.
But I’m a bit nervous about Naked Gun
, because it’s a feature film… If he tests it well, which I’m sure he will, Akiva Schafer is our writer-director. And
there’s lots of funny gags
, lots of funny visual gags happening at the same time while ‘serious things’ are being discussed, you know?”

Whether or not Neeson can pull it off remains to be seen, but with a star-studded cast behind him and his ability to tap into his comedic side with a deadpan delivery that can’t help but be funny, there’s a good chance The Naked Gun reboot will make just as money as its predecessors.