Will There Ever Be Another Austin Powers Movie?
Mike Myers is ready and willing to make another Austin Powers movie, all that is needed is studio approval.
With the recent news of a new Shrek film on the way from Illumination studios, many fans are wondering if and when we will ever see Mike Myers bring the International Man of Mystery back to the big screen as well. Rumors of a fourth Austin Powers film have been circulating for years, with an official IMDb page for the prospective sequel looking pretty bare bones. Mike Myers has expressed interest in reinvigorating the franchise multiple times, most recently during an October 2022 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Though fans have not had the chance to catch Austin Powers on the big screen since 2002’s Austin Powers in Goldmember, the iconic James Bond parody has continued to inspire audiences to this day. Recently, the Austin Powers theme music “Soul Bossa Nova” composed by legendary music producer Quincy Jones has gone viral as a Tik Tok audio, spawning thousands of funkadelic videos employing the use of the earworm. This shows that Mike Myers’ classic character continues to resonate across multiple generations, during a time when early 2000s film reboots and revivals seem to be at an all-time high.
Beginning with 1997’s Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, the trilogy consistently spoofed both classic Bond films as well as a number of at-the-time modern blockbusters through a series of increasingly bizarre and surrealist installments. Mike Myers starred in the franchise as multiple characters, bringing his trademark style of absurdist wit and wordplay to life on the screen as the titular spy, as well as Dr. Evil, Fat Bastard, and eventually the third film’s antagonist, Goldmember. Myers’ penchant for portraying multiple characters in a single project likely stems from his Saturday Night Live days and has remained a calling card throughout many of his projects, including The Love Guru, Wayne’s World, and most recently, his Netflix series The Pentaverate.
The Austin Powers series saw a revolving door of A-list talent in the cast, including Michael Caine, Rob Lowe, and even Beyonce, as well as hilarious cameo appearances from the likes of Carrie Fischer, Jerry Springer, Willie Nelson, Steven Spielberg, and Tom Cruise. With the IMDb page only showing Mike Myers in the cast, there is no way of knowing which actors would be available to reprise their roles in a fourth installment at this time. Each film was marked by a number of increasingly silly running gags which compounded upon themselves to the point of absurdity, potentially making the franchise perfect to market to modern audiences, who seem to have grown up developing a taste of humor of this variety.
According to interviews and comments made to the press by both Mike Myers and series director Jay Roach, the screenplay for the fourth Austin Powers film does exist and contains a storyline that is set in stone. Mike Myers even alluded to the script providing a loving tribute to Mini Me actor Verne Troyer who sadly passed away in 2018. Unfortunately, there seems to have been no movement on the project in years, with no public knowledge of whether or not a studio has even agreed to fund the film.
Several years ago, Mike Myers explained that he had taken a hiatus from acting to focus on being a father to his young children, likely stunting the production of Austin Powers 4. Of course, with recent outings such as The Pentaverate and David O. Russell’s Amsterdam, it seems as though Myers is prepared to get back on the big screen. This is in addition to the upcoming Shrek 5 film, though it has not yet been confirmed that Mike Myers will be reprising his leading role in the film.
While there is no question regarding Mike Myers’ enthusiasm for reprising his iconic roles, such as Wayne’s World‘s Wayne Campbell and the titular ogre from the Shrek franchise, it seems clear that the only component necessary to get the ball rolling on Austin Powers 4 is the push from a major studio. The original Austin Powers trilogy was produced by New Line Cinema, which has since been bought out by Warner Bros. Discovery, who recently announced a slate of new content for their streaming service Max, which is set to launch next month. With David Zaslav probing the content library for more franchise favorites, perhaps Mike Myers will receive the call to revisit Austin Powers any day now.
