EXCLUSIVE: Paul Walter Hauser‘s hot streak continues. After seeing New Line lock up rights to the authorized Chris Farley biopic in which he’ll star for director Josh Gad, the actor has signed on to the untitled Naked Gun reboot from Paramount Pictures.
Hauser joins an ensemble that also includes Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson, as previously announced. He’ll take on the role of Ed, Frank Drebin’s partner, which was inhabited in prior Naked Gun films by George Kennedy, and in the preceding series Police Squad! by Alan North.
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Akiva Schaffer is directing and exec producing the comedy, slated for release in theaters on July 18, 2025. Dan Gregor and Doug Mand wrote the draft script along with Schaffer, with whom they partnered on the Emmy-winning film Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers. Seth MacFarlane and Erica Huggins are producing via Fuzzy Door, with Daniel M. Stillman also serving as EP.
Known for their absurd scenarios and slapstick humor, past Naked Gun films centered on the misadventures of Frank Drebin, the clueless and bumbling police detective played by Leslie Nielsen, who also starred in Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker’s Police Squad!. Grossing over $216M across three films, the franchise launched with 1988’s The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, with sequels The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear and Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult following in 1991 and 1994, respectively.
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Coming off of Emmy, Critics Choice and Golden Globe wins for his haunting turn as serial killer Larry Hall in Apple’s crime drama Black Bird, Hauser was also recently seen in the second season of Apple’s hit comedy The Afterparty from Lord & Miller. On June 14, he’ll be heard voicing the character of Embarrassment in the long-awaited Inside Out 2. Other upcoming projects include Tony Tost’s directorial debut Americana with Sydney Sweeney, which was recently acquired by Lionsgate, and Doug Liman’s Apple Original The Instigators, which has him starring opposite Matt Damon.
Hauser is repped by CAA, Artists First, and Schreck Rose Dapello.
I think Paul Walter Hauser is one of, if not THE funniest actor in Hollywood today. The original Naked Gun movie is one of my five favorite comedies of all time so I have no hope for this remake, but with Hauser in a key role I know at least some of it will make laugh.
Without the Zuckers, Abrahams and Proft involved, this is a non starter.
Naked Gun will not work without Leslie Neilson
I have to admit, I’m curious what Liam Neeson can do here.
Good actor but I always thought Captain Ed was supposed to be the same age roughly as Frank. Liam Neesen is 71 and Paul is I think late 30s. If this is a reboot and has no connection to the others is easier to ignore for me, but otherwise it’s a tough sell age wise.
He was so damn good in Black Bird. Good for him, he’s got a long career in front of him.