It was already a hit in theaters, becoming the star’s highest-grossing film in ten years, and now Liam Neeson’s recent release is a hit on streaming too. The Oscar-nominated Neeson’s all-time box office profile benefits greatly by his having starred in several major franchises, including Star Wars, Batman, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Lego Movie.
When it comes to films headlined by Neeson, nothing beats the Taken trilogy. The three action movies together grossed just shy of $1 billion worldwide, with Taken 3 grossing $327 million in 2015. It’s been ten years since that film seemingly proved the Neeson-led franchise’s ongoing viability, but nevertheless, Taken 4 has yet to arrive.
Meanwhile, Neeson has established his action hero brand far beyond the confines of the Taken trilogy, though in recent years his box office clout has waned significantly. Outside 2019’s Men in Black reboot, only Neeson’s The Commuter managed to cross the $100 million mark worldwide.
Diminishing returns may be partly why Neeson recently added to his particular set of skills with a starring role in a very broad and silly comedy that successfully mocks his already unintentionally funny action hero persona.
Neeson’s The Naked Gun Reboot Is A Hit On Streaming
Neeson’s comedic turn indeed succeeded in reviving his box office prospects, as The Naked Gun proved the star’s biggest hit since the aforementioned Taken 3 capped that particular trilogy back in 2015.
Funny Neeson may not permanently replace Serious Neeson, but streaming viewers are enjoying the former while he lasts, as his Naked Gun reboot has landed in the top spot on Paramount+’s streaming top ten chart for October 2, 2025 (via Paramount+). It was just released on the streamer October 1.
Our Take On Neeson’s Turn To Comedy Becoming A Streaming Hit
It almost seemed like a joke when Seth MacFarlane said he and Neeson had discussed making a Naked Gun reboot, but it turned out they were ᴅᴇᴀᴅly serious. MacFarlane would later drop out of the reboot, but Neeson stayed, and proved utterly perfect as the son of original Naked Gun star Leslie Nielsen’s bungling Frank Drebin.
It makes sense in retrospect that Neeson, an accomplished legitimate actor outside of his action-hero roles, would have no trouble tweaking his persona for the purpose of delivering intentional comedy. Audiences enjoyed the effort, pushing The Naked Gun to a worldwide gross of $102 million.
Talk of Neeson returning to play Drebin in a Naked Gun sequel was shut down by the star, who told Newsweek that he thinks the reboot was a “one-off.” Neeson has never been shy about taking a paycheck role, however, and if the right number is proposed, he could easily have a change-of-heart about that “one-off” opinion.
Having so thoroughly mocked his own persona in Naked Gun, Neeson could have trouble returning to straight-action vehicles and being taken seriously. Then again, Neeson’s serious action films have basically become self-parody, so doing a U-turn back to them might not be as tricky as it looks.
Neeson might elect to double-down on comedy, doing another Naked Gun, or something else funny. It’s unlikely, however, that he would follow fully in the footsteps of OG Frank Drebin actor Leslie Nielsen, who gave up being serious entirely, starring in a run of increasingly-dumb genre parodies until his death in 2010.
If The Naked Gun proves to be a one-off, as Neeson says it was, it was a hugely successful one, both in theaters and on streaming.
