The Risqué ‘Naked Gun’ Scene Its Director Refused to Cut

A reboot of the Naked Gun franchise is bringing the beloved slapstick series back to life, this time with Liam Neeson stepping into the center of the comedic chaos as Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. The film promises the same wild humor, rapid-fire gags, and over-the-top action that made the original a cult classic.

Pamela Anderson plays Beth Davenport, a role originally played by Priscilla Presley in 1988. The character enlists Frank to investigate her brother’s suspicious death, setting off a chain of comedic misadventures.

However, per Indie Wire, the duo’s slapstick misadventures culminated in a scene that its director, Akiva Schaffer (of Lonely Island fame) refused to cut. It includes Frank, Beth, and one wild snowman.

The scene depicts the couple falling in love as they escape on a romantic winter getaway to a secluded cabin, frolicking in the snow to the Starship song “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now.” There, they build a snowman, but little do they know how much of a part he will play in their romantic weekend.

The couple finds a book of spells, which brings their adorable snowman to life. His inclusion in their intimate moments is wildly inappropriate, but as he becomes a third wheel in their romance, he becomes jealous and attempts murder.

Schaffer told the Filmmaker Toolkit podcast that the scene was “polarizing” in script reads. He explained, ”People I really respect, like Andy Sandberg, when he read it for me, he was like, ‘Snowman’s the best. Do not let them cut it,’ knowing it would be cuttable. It makes sense once you see the movie, but at one point I did have to threaten to quit.”

“After the first test screen, it was the number one scene in the movie,” said Schaffer. “The people who really fought me on it after ate a lot of crow without me asking. I tried to let them off the hook easy, and go, ‘That’s fine,’ but they were like, ‘No, dude, we were wrong.’”

The Naked Gun is currently in theaters.