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The Naked Gun Returns, with Ed Helms

Paramount are looking to reboot yet another franchise; this one being The Naked Gun. Originally a TV series called Police Squad, the adventures of Detective Frank Drebin (legendary and sadly missed Leslie Nielsen) never failed to amuse. Apart from the third movie, which wasn't that great. 



The studio want to return Frank to our screens, and they've tapped comedian Ed Helms (The Office, The Hangover series) to step into the brogues and grey wool suit.
The original movie came out in 1988, followed by sequels in 1991 and 1994, but since then spoofs have gotten a bad name. The first Scary Movie was arguably the last decent one before things went to hell.

Even the Zucker Brothers themselves, also responsible for Naked Gun sequels 2 1/2 and 33 1/3 plus Airplane, have lost their way. Did you see Superhero Movie? Of course you didn't. 

While Leslie Nielsen was primarily a straight drama actor before featuring in Airplane, Ed Helms has an almost exclusively comedy background which will change his interpretation of the character enormously.

Where Nielsen shone was that he took the whole situation seriously and never turned to wink at the camera. If Helms can capture that he'll be on to a winner. Script-writers Thomas Lennon and R. Ben Garant (Reno 911 & Night at the Museum) are attached to make the whole thing up, whether that's a flat out remake of the original movie or something brand new remains to be seen. 

Considering the new cross-over pathways for film to TV, paved by Marvel and Agents of SHIELD, we could also see a return of Police Squad if the movie does well. We'll have to wait and see won't we? 


Words by Gazz Wood