Liam Neeson's career saw a rebound after he starred in the 'Taken' movies, but now the Ballymena man could be taking the Leslie Nielsen career route of becoming a comedic actor.
Deadline Hollywood report that Neeson is in negotiations to star in a reboot of 'The Naked Gun', one of the most hilarious comedies of all time.
The original film, which was released in 1988, starred Leslie Nielsen as detective Frank Drebin, a bumbling detective who could solve a case but was severely lacking in street sense.
Pairing Neeson with a franchise like 'The Naked Gun' makes sense, as Nielsen also started out as a dramatic actor before finding his true calling as a deadpan comedic genius in 'Airplane!', and the idea of the lumbering Liam Neeson in a 'Naked Gun' movie sounds like a match made in heaven.
Akiva Schaffer, best known for his work with the comedy troupe The Lonely Island and for his work on the Netflix series 'I Think You Should Leave', is in talks to direct.
The original 'Naked Gun' movie debuted in 1988, based on the short-lived television series 'Police Squad!', and quickly became a hit thanks to its rapid-fire comedy style.
Two more sequels followed, and it showed that you could plug Nielsen into just about any setting and still make it hilarious.
Deadline report that Paramount that progress on a 'Naked Gun' reboot had been making tentative progress over the years, but the runaway success of 'Top Gun Maverick' this summer has made Paramount double down on revisiting their most lucrative franchises.
With the iconic Leslie Nielsen passing away in 2010, there is sadly no hope of seeing the Canadian comedy legend reprising the role that made him famous.
Liam Neeson's career saw a major shift after the success of 'Taken' in 2008, changing his status from Oscar-nominated dramatic actor to action man, but now a change to the world of comedy seems like the next logical step for the star.
Neeson will next be seen in Neil Jordan's neo-noir film 'Marlowe'.
