| Police Academy | |
|---|---|
 Official franchise logo | |
| Original work | Police Academy |
| Owner | Warner Bros. |
| Years | 1984–present |
| Films and television | |
| Film(s) | |
| Television series | Police Academy: The Series |
| Animated series | Police Academy |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Theme park attraction(s) | Police Academy Stunt Show (1994) |
| Character(s) | List of characters |
Police Academy is acomedy franchise of seventheatrical films and twospin-offtelevision shows. The 1984 filmPolice Academy followed the premise of a new mayor requiring the local police department to accept all recruits. The film franchise relies heavily onslapstick humor andphysical comedy, as the misfit recruits attempt to prove themselves capable of being police officers, succeeding despite their eccentricities. The first four films follow Carey Mahoney (Steve Guttenberg), a repeat offender forced to join thepolice academy as punishment. The 1994 filmMission to Moscow marked the seventh installment, with cast membersGeorge Gaynes,Michael Winslow, andDavid Graf appearing throughout the film series.
The first film grossed $149.8 million worldwide.[1] While the subsequent films failed to impress critics, they sustained commercial success, grossing $391 million in total.[1][2] Parallels have been drawn betweenPolice Academy and the BritishCarry On series,[3] for their common tropes of a returning ensemble cast, frequent use oflowbrow humor, and reliance on sexual innuendo.
Guttenberg announced in September 2018 that a newPolice Academy movie was in the works after spending years indevelopment hell.[4]
| Film | U.S. release date | Director | Screenwriter(s) | Producer(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Police Academy | March 23, 1984 (1984-03-23) | Hugh Wilson | Neal Israel,Pat Proft & Hugh Wilson | Paul Maslansky |
| Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment | March 29, 1985 (1985-03-29) | Jerry Paris | Barry W. Blaustein &David Sheffield | |
| Police Academy 3: Back in Training | March 21, 1986 (1986-03-21) | Gene Quintano | ||
| Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol | April 3, 1987 (1987-04-03) | Jim Drake | ||
| Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach | March 18, 1988 (1988-03-18) | Alan Myerson | Stephen Curwick | |
| Police Academy 6: City Under Siege | March 10, 1989 (1989-03-10) | Peter Bonerz | ||
| Police Academy: Mission to Moscow | August 26, 1994 (1994-08-26) | Alan Metter | Randolph Davis & Michele S. Chodos |
Police Academy was released in 1984 and directed byHugh Wilson. The film has a newly elected female mayor announcing a policy requiring the police department to accept all willing recruits. The movie followed a group of misfit recruits in their attempts to prove themselves capable of being police officers and their adventures at the police academy.
InPolice Academy 2: Their First Assignment, the newly graduated cadets are sent to one of the worstprecincts in the city to improve the conditions. Lt. Mauser undermines their attempts so he can get Capt. Lassard fired and get the position in charge.
Police Academy 3: Back in Training was released in 1986, and like its predecessor, was directed byJerry Paris. When the governor of the state announces that budget cuts necessitate the closure of the worst of the two police academies, the officers of the Metropolitan Police Academy, led by Commandant Lassard, work on ensuring it is not theirs. This is hindered by their unusual gang of new cadets.
Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol, released in 1987 and directed byJim Drake, involves new recruits being brought in when the officers work with a newly formed Citizens on Patrol group. Harris and Proctor are in charge, though, and plan to dismantle the program.Citizens on Patrol was the final film starring Guttenberg.
Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach, released in 1988, was directed byAlan Myerson. The plot involves the officers attending a police convention inFlorida to honor Commandant Eric Lassard aspolice officer of the decade, wherein he inadvertently switches his sports bag with that of a group of jewel thieves. The thieves try to get it back.
The sixth installment,Police Academy 6: City Under Siege, directed byPeter Bonerz, was released in 1989. When the city suffers from a dangerous set of crimes by a gang of jewel thieves, the Metropolitan Police Academy graduates are brought in to do something about it.
Police Academy: Mission to Moscow, released in 1994 and directed by Alan Metter, involved the officers going toRussia to help catch an international crime figure.
A franchise reboot has been in various stages ofdevelopment hell since September 2003,[4][5] when the eighthPolice Academy film was announced with a tentative release scheduled for 2007. The studio acknowledged the franchise's return after more than thirteen years of absence,[5] Paul Maslansky stated, "I felt it was time to start again. I saw thatStarsky & Hutch and a number of other revivals were doing really well.Police Academy has such a great history, so I thought, 'Why not?'"[6] with most of the main cast members set to return.[7] Hugh Wilson was later slated to direct.[8]Leslie Easterbrook (Capt. Debbie Callahan) andMarion Ramsey (Sgt. Laverne Hooks) mentioned that filming for the nextPolice Academy film was scheduled to commence principal photography mid-2006 to meet its 2007 release.[9] The film was suspended in October 2006, at which point Easterbrook mentioned that the project may be repurposed as a direct-to-DVD sequel. She added that thoughWarner Bros. wanted to do a new film, they wanted a producer to get independent financing.[10][11]
In May 2008, Michael Winslow replied to a question about a possible newPolice Academy film: "Anything's possible. You've got to hope for Paul Maslansky and those folks over there to put it together. It's up to them. It would be great to see everyone again."[12] In November of the same year, Steve Guttenberg (Sgt. Carey Mahoney) confirmed that8 was still in development and that he was working on the script with Warner Bros.[13][better source needed] Guttenberg is slated to direct the film,[14] and stated that all living cast members from the previous installments would return to reprise their roles.[14]
In March 2010, New Line announced plans to revive thePolice Academy franchise, with a new film in development with Paul Maslansky attached as filmmaker. Maslansky stated, "It's going to be very worthwhile to the people who remember it and to those who saw it on TV ... It's going to be a new class. We hope to discover new talent and season it with great comedians. It'll be anything but another movie with a numeral next to it. And we'll most probably retain the wonderful musical theme."[15] Later that month, the filmmaker stated that he plans to bring back some of the original cast to train the new recruits.[16] While appearing as a guest on the July 12, 2010, edition ofThis Morning, Michael Winslow (Sgt. Larvell Jones) confirmed thatPolice Academy 8 was in active development. In August 2010, Steve Guttenberg revealed a script was being written byDavid Diamond andDavid Weissman.[17] In August 2010, actorBobcat Goldthwait (Officer Zed) released a statement urging Hollywood to reboot thePolice Academy series with a new group of actors instead of the original cast members. Goldthwait confirmed that Steve Guttenberg would return and that movie bosses were trying to getKim Cattrall andSharon Stone to return for an eighth film, though Goldthwait said he had no desire to return to the series.[18]
By January 2012,New Line Cinema announced that Scott Zabielski would replace Maslansky as the director of the upcoming film.[19] Later in March of the same year,Michael Winslow stated that production of the eighth film tentatively scheduled to commence that November, and that an offer had been made toShaquille O'Neal to replace the lateBubba Smith as Hightower.[20] In June 2012,Jeremy Garelick was hired to contribute to a rewrite the aforementioned script.[21][22] In April 2014,Keegan-Michael Hall andJordan Peele, from the sketch showKey & Peele were brought in produce the film.[23] Steve Guttenberg shared his excitement with the project in July 2015, as the project was rumored to be titledPolice Academy: Next Generation.[24] In April 2016, the two said that the project was still ongoing and that it was going to be influenced byEnd of Watch andM*A*S*H. They said that the project would be a "funny take on a grounded, real approach as the Key and Peele way", and noted that it would give them access to talk about what was going on in the landscape at the time.[25][26] After years of delays, Steve Guttenberg announced in September 2018, that the sequel was once again in active development; stating, "the nextPolice Academy is coming, no details yet, but it is in a gift bag being readied!"[27] In 2021, when asked about an eight film, Guttenberg replied with "I suspect you haven't seen the last of my Mahoney".[28]
| Series | Season | Episodes | First released | Last released | Showrunner(s) | Network(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Police Academy: The Animated Series | 2 | 65 | September 11, 1988 | January 28, 1989 | Paul Maslansky | Broadcast syndication |
| Police Academy: The Series | 1 | 26 | September 12, 1997 | May 25, 1998 |
An animated comedy titledPolice Academy, also known asPolice Academy: The Animated Series, was produced byRuby-Spears Productions andWarner Bros. Television. It ran from September 1988 to September 1989, lasting two seasons with 65 episodes produced.
Police Academy: The Series is a 1997 live-action show based on the films, comprising 26 episodes, each one hour. It was produced by Warner Bros. Television and Protocol Entertainment.Michael Winslow reprised his role from the films, and several others made occasional guest appearances.
A six-issue series ofPolice Academy comic books was produced as a spin-off of the animated series beginning in August 1989. The series was published byMarvel Comics,[29] under a "Star Comics Presents" byline.
The series was written by Angelo DeCesare, pencilled byHoward Post, and inked by Jacqueline Roettcher.[29]
| Title | Crew/Detail | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Composer(s) | Cinematographer | Editor(s) | Production companies | Distributing company | Running time | ||
| Police Academy | Robert Folk | Michael D. Margulies | Robert Brown &Zach Staenberg | Warner Bros.: a Warner Communications Company, Paul Maslansky Productions, The Ladd Company[30][31] | Warner Bros. Pictures | 1 hr 36 mins | |
| Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment | James Crabe | Bob Wyman | 1 hr 27 mins | ||||
| Police Academy 3: Back in Training | Robert Saad | Bud Molin | Warner Bros.: a Warner Communications Company, Paul Maslansky Productions, Jerry Paris Films, Police Academy Productions[32] | 1 hr 23 mins | |||
| Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol | David Rawlins | Warner Bros. Inc.: Warner Communications Inc., Paul Maslansky Productions[33] | 1 hr 28 mins | ||||
| Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach | James Pergola | Hubert C. de la Bouillerie | Warner Bros. Inc.: Warner Communications Inc., Paul Maslansky Productions, Alan Myerson Films[34] | 1 hr 30 mins | |||
| Police Academy 6: City Under Siege | Charles Rosher Jr. | Warner Bros. Inc.: a Warner Communications Company, Paul Maslansky Productions[35] | 1 hr 24 mins | ||||
| Police Academy: The Animated Series | Scott Thomas Canfield andJohn Debney | Director of Animation: Ric Gonzalez | Chip Yaras | Warner Bros. Television, Ruby-Spears Enterprises | Syndication | 21 hrs 40 mins (20 mins/episode) | |
| Police Academy: Mission to Moscow | Robert Folk | Ian Jones | Dennis Hill & Suzanne Hines | Warner Bros., Paul Maslansky Productions[36] | Warner Bros. Pictures | 1 hr 23 mins | |
| Police Academy: The Series | Ken Harrison, Ken Williams, Karel Roessingh, Jim Guttridge, Daryl Bennett, Ari Wise, and Hal Beckett | Manfred Guthe | Daria Ellerman, Richard Schwadel, and Allyson Boyce | Warner Bros. International Television Productions, Paul Mansky Productions, Goodman/Rosen Productions, Protocol Entertainment | Syndication | 26 hrs (60 mins/episode) | |
| Film | Release date | Domestic gross | Worldwide gross | Budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Police Academy[37][1][38] | March 23, 1984 (1984-03-23) | $81,198,894 | $149,840,000 | $4,800,000 |
| Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment[39][1] | March 29, 1985 (1985-03-29) | $55,600,000 | $114,993,000 | $7,500,000 |
| Police Academy 3: Back in Training[40][1] | March 21, 1986 (1986-03-21) | $43,579,163 | $107,639,000 | $12,239,000 |
| Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol[41][1] | April 3, 1987 (1987-04-03) | $28,061,343 | $76,819,000 | $17,325,000 |
| Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach[42][1] | March 18, 1988 (1988-03-18) | $19,510,371 | $54,499,000 | $13,858,000 |
| Police Academy 6: City Under Siege[43][1] | March 10, 1989 (1989-03-10) | $11,567,217 | $33,190,000 | $14,515,000 |
| Police Academy: Mission to Moscow[44][2] | August 26, 1994 (1994-08-26) | $126,247 | $4,300,000 | $10,000,000 |
| Total | $239,643,235 | $541,280,000 | $79,937,000 | |
The films have received overall negative reviews, apart from the first film which had more mixed reviews.
| Film | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic | CinemaScore[45] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Police Academy | 58% (33 reviews)[46] | 41 (6 reviews)[47] | — |
| Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment | 32% (19 reviews)[48] | 39 (8 reviews)[49] | — |
| Police Academy 3: Back in Training | 36% (11 reviews)[50] | 33 (8 reviews)[51] | B+ |
| Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol | 0% (20 reviews)[52] | 26 (8 reviews)[53] | B- |
| Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach | 0% (9 reviews)[54] | 18 (10 reviews)[55] | B |
| Police Academy 6: City Under Siege | 0% (9 reviews)[56] | 16 (8 reviews)[57] | B- |
| Police Academy: Mission to Moscow | 0% (8 reviews)[58] | 11 (4 reviews)[59] | — |
Two aborted attempts at video game adaptations of the franchise were planned, one byHasbro for the abortedControl-Vision console, developed by Mark Turmell, and the other was an unlicensedNES game byTengen.[60][61][62]
Police Academy 7 $1.11 million
| Films | |
|---|---|
| Television | |
| Characters |
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| Miscellaneous | |
