Paramount is set to reboot the Naked Gun franchise, with Ed Helms confirmed to star as bumbling detective, Frank Drebin.
Helms will have a nigh-on impossible act to follow in Leslie Nielson, who starred in original TV series Police Squad! , before going on to appear in three big-screen outings.
Variety reports that Paramount has approached Night At The Museum duo Thomas Lennon and R. Ben Garant to write the script, with the pair set to put a “new spin” on the Drebin character.
Helms is certainly an adept comic performer, but whether or not he can live up to Nielson’s peerless buffoonery remains to be seen...
Moving the character away from Nielsen’s brand of deadpan slapstick might be one way to avoid unfavourable comparisons, although at this stage, no indication has been given as to the new direction the film will take.
