The Naked Gun director fought to keep the silliest part of the movie: "At one point I did have to threaten to quit"

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Andy Samberg told the Naked Gun director to "not let them cut" the scene

The Naked Gun
(Image credit: Paramount)

The Naked Gun reboot wouldn't be the same without the snowman sequence, one of the silliest and funniest parts of the movie. However, the scene was "polarizing" for some during the making of the film, and co-writer and director Akiva Schaffer had to fight to keep it.

In pure Lonely Island comedic style, the scene follows Frank Drebin Jr. (Liam Neeson) and Beth (Pamela Anderson) as they travel to an isolated winter cabin where they use a book of spells to bring a snowman to life. The whole sequence is shown in an ''80s-style love montage, until it turns into a horror movie inspired by 1998's Jack Frost.

Samberg and the director were ultimately right, of course – from the first test screenings, said Schaffer, "it was the number one scene in the movie."

"No offense to other reboots and redos and legacy sequels out there, but a lot of them are so stuck on re-doing the stuff that the original did," Schaffer argued. "You watch them and are delighted, but it's like empty calories, and when it's done, you barely remember that you saw it because, my theory at least, is they're not really a new movie.  They're fan fiction of the old movie."

Mireia Mullor
Mireia Mullor
Contributing Writer

Mireia is a UK-based culture journalist and critic. She previously worked as Deputy Movies Editor at Digital Spy, and her work as a freelance writer has appeared in WeLoveCinema and Spanish magazines Fotogramas, Esquire, and Elle. She is also a published author, having written a book about Studio Ghibli's 'Kiki's Delivery Service' in 2023. Talking about anime and musicals is the best way to grab her attention.

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