With Shrek 5’s ogre-fart stink in the air, it was only natural that the next time star Mike Myers turned up for an interview he’d be grilled on his other major-but-dormant franchise, Austin Powers.
The day came on Tuesday when Myers appeared on Trevor Noah’s World Cup Watch Party Live, where the former The Daily Show host asked on behalf of “the chat” if we’d ever see an Austin Powers 4. Without skipping a beat, Myers declared, “yes” before popping a gummy candy in his mouth. I think he meant to say “YEAH, BABY! YEAH!” but, still, a definitive response.
The shagalicious world of Austin Powers has been off movie screens since 2002, back when Beyoncé would have starred as the romantic lead with an aging white guy as a character named Foxxy Cleopatra, but his cultural legacy persists. Mostly in the form of arch nemesis Dr. Evil, who Myers has portrayed in a number of commercials since the films ran their course.
In fact, Verizon released a new one just a few days ago, timed to the World Cup.
Coincidence? Hard to imagine. The good news is Myers, Seth Green, Rob Lowe, and Mindy Sterling, as Frau Farbissina, all still have the juice??
Myers has been teasing the possibility of an Austin Powers 4 since at least 2018, when he insisted it would happen but take time to get right. He also thought the focus would be on Dr. Evil more than his international man of mystery. Whatever the case, there’s been little movement on the dream project over the last eight years, with original Austin Powers director Jay Roach laying down some real talk in 2020 over the state of the franchise.
“I wouldn’t say ‘never’ never,” Roach told Deadline at the time, “but it does depend on Mike having something that he’s inspired about and after all these years it hasn’t quite clicked yet.”
Myers’ immediate confirmation to Noah on the possibility of Austin Powers 4 sure makes it sound like New Line Cinema, which distributed the first three movies, would be back in the Austin Danger Powers business before too long. While the eventual acquisition of New Line and its parent company Warner Bros. Pictures by Skydance Paramount could easily implode current plans, the project sounds a lot closer to reality than the highly anticipated Love Guru 2.
Austin Powers is a beta male simp (and we love him for it)
Travel back to our way-too-in-depth discussion of Austin Powers’ shagadelic world
Not too long ago, we revisited the Austin Powers movies to see if they hold up. Good news: They do, and in a theatrical scene basically void of comedies written with actual jokes instead of mumbly improv (Scary Movie and The Naked Gun might be the last two) Myers return to his PG-13-rated antics sound like a dream come true. The real question is: What could he spoof?
The strange wrinkle in reviving Austin Powers is the state of the James Bond franchise. Currently, the main target of the spy parody series is lost in development limbo. Despite Daniel Craig making two of the greatest 007 movies of all time, 2021’s No Time to Die saw the star limping over the finish line to close out a run of convoluted lore. In searching for the next young British actor to take up the mantle, Amazon gobbled up 100% of the rights to the franchise and made a hand-waving gesture to its future by hiring Denis Villeneuve to helm the next untitled installment. We haven’t heard much since.
Would Austin Powers 4 crib from Craig’s back-to-basics gritty playbook or continue its own swinging-’60s-here-I-come vibe that kicked off a surprising cultural comeback in the 2000s? As long as we get another edition of the blue-shag-carpeted official Austin Powers backgammon set, I’ll be happy.
But here’s a better pitch than Austin Powers 4, in my opinion: Bring Austin to video games. Again! We have not had a playable Austin Powers experience since the double whammy of Game Boy Color’s Austin Powers: Oh, Behave! and Austin Powers: Welcome to My Underground Lair!, published on the same day in September 2000 by none other than Rockstar Games.
With 007 First Light crushing in sales, it seems only fit to skewer Bond in his most modern form with an action-adventure AAA game. We never got a solid GoldenEye spoof featuring Mini-Me, Fat Bastard, Ivana Humpalot, and Random Task. I hope Myers and Warner Bros. Games don’t miss their shot with this one.
Eh, who am I kidding? I will settle for Austin Powers 4 and then Dr. Evil will join Fortnite timed to the release. But a kid can dream…
