10 More Upcoming Movie Performances Doomed To Fail
2. Liam Neeson As Frank Drebin Jr - The Naked Gun Sequel
Similarly to James Earl Jones in the role of Mufasa, the part of Detective Sergeant Frank Drebin is synonymous with the late, great Leslie Nielsen.
Filling those shoes is something that even the great comedy geniuses of our time would struggle to do, never mind an actor who isn't exactly known for the silly and bumbling brand of funny found in the original Naked Gun movies.
Despite Liam Neeson going out of his way to recently tell JoBlo that the 2025 reboot "will be very funny," it's tough to imagine his Frank Drebin Jr. leaving folks in stitches the same way Nielsen did a few decades back.
Neeson can certainly be funny in his own dry, deadpan way, but that's just not what springs to mind when thinking of the often absurd comedy series, and it's likely not what lovers of those old movies will be looking for heading into this Seth Macfarlane-produced reboot.
Perhaps the wiser move would have been to just throw Neeson into a comedy project without any connections to such a beloved property - at least then comparisons wouldn't be made between the two Drebins.
As things stand, though, it seems safe to presume that Liam Neeson will fail to step out of Leslie Nielsen's iconic shadow here.