The Naked Gun: release date, cast, plot and everything we know about the Liam Neeson action-comedy

Liam Neeson in The Naked Gun
Liam Neeson in The Naked Gun (Image credit: Paramount Pictures)

Frank Drebin is back! Well, Frank Drebin Jr., as Liam Neeson is taking over the lead role in a reboot of The Naked Gun franchise that became a classic with a trio of movies starring Leslie Nielsen.

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad is a movie adaptation of a short-lived TV series that was created by Jim Abrahams and Jerry & David Zucker, the same team behind Airplane! The movies starred Nielsen as the bumbling Detective Frank Drebin, who despite making almost every mistake imaginable in comedic fashion, always got his man. Now it’ll be Neeson hoping to bring some new life into the franchise as Drebin’s son.

Read on to find out everything you need to know about the 2025 new movie The Naked Gun, including when it premieres, who else is starring in it and a first look at the movie.

The Naked Gun release date

Paramount Pictures is going to premiere The Naked Gun on August 1 in US, UK and other movie theaters around the world.

Arriving in the final month of the summer blockbuster season, The Naked Gun shares its release date with animated movie The Bad Guys 2 and horror movie Together.

The Naked Gun cast

Neeson leads The Naked Gun as Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. Neeson’s action star credentials are well known, but he has also shown he has great comedic chops, especially in The Lego Movie and a fantastic cameo in Ted 2.

Also starring in The Naked Gun are Pamela Anderson, the former Baywatch star who gave an acclaimed performance in 2024’s The Last Showgirl, Emmy-winner Paul Walter Hauser (Black Bird); CCH Pounder (Rustin), Kevin Durand (Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes), wrestler Cody Rhodes, Eddie Yu (Bosch: Legacy) and Danny Huston (Horizon: An American Saga).

The Naked Gun plot

Dan Gregor, Doug Mand and Akiva Schaffer wrote the screenplay for The Naked Gun. Here is the official synopsis:

“Only one man has the particular set of skills... to lead Police Squad and save the world! Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. follows in his father's footsteps in The Naked Gun.”

The Naked Gun trailer

Paramount has shared a teaser trailer for The Naked Gun, which sees Neeson don an interesting disguise and gives a satirical wink to one of the original movie’s stars. Take a look directly below:

The Naked Gun | Official Teaser Trailer (2025 Movie) - Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson - YouTube The Naked Gun | Official Teaser Trailer (2025 Movie) - Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson - YouTube
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The Naked Gun director

Akiva Schaffer got his start as part of The Lonely Island team with Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone, directing many of the Saturday Night Live digital shorts from The Lonely Island. He expanded into features with Hot Rod and has been behind some comedic hits since. Take a look at his full list of feature directing credits:

  • Hot Rod (2007)
  • The Watch (2012)
  • Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016)
  • Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022)

The Naked Gun behind the scenes

Paramount Pictures is the studio behind The Naked Gun, making it in association with Domain Entertainment and A Fuzzy Door Production. Producers on the movie are Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane and Erica Huggins.

The Naked Gun poster

(Image credit: Paramount Pictures)
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Michael Balderston

Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca, Moulin Rouge!, Silence of the Lambs, Children of Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars. On the TV side he enjoys Only Murders in the Building, Yellowstone, The Boys, Game of Thrones and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Follow on Letterboxd.

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