The Naked Gun co-writer/director Akiva Schaffer knew he struck gold with the wild snowman montage in his movie starring Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson. But he had to put his entire job on the line to save it.

There’s probably nobody better to direct and write a movie like The Naked Gun reboot than Akiva Schaffer. He has a resume full of brilliant, dumb, joke-a-minute work. Together with Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone he is a member of the comedy trio The Lonely Island.

The Liam Neeson-led reboot could be the biggest theatrical comedy since the start of the pandemic—could it save the entire genre? Even the world’s most bumbling detective could probably figure out why there haven’t been any comedy blockbusters lately.