Mike Myers Would Definitely Maybe Make Another ‘Austin Powers’ Movie
15 years after Goldmember, could we be getting a brand new Austin Powers adventure? Possibly!
If you want to feel old, know this: Austin Powers just turned 20. (The movie, that is, not the title character, who’s...well, he was cryogenically frozen for decades, went back in time, returned to the present, then went back again, so it’s rather hard to tell his true age.)
In honor of that milestone, The Hollywood Reporter released an extensive oral history of the first tale featuring the International Man of Mystery. It’s packed with nuggets of interest and making-of anecdotes and behind-the-scenes stories, but tucked in at the very end is this exchange between creator Mike Myers and Jay Roach, who directed all three entries in the series:
Roach: We have talked about [making a fourth movie] for 15 years. We have also always said we don’t want to do it unless we came up with something that lived up to the concepts in our mind. Until Mike feels like he has a concept that earns a fourth, it won’t happen. But if it did, we have all agreed that we would be delighted to get back into it.
Myers: I would love to do another, but you just have to see.
See? How’s that for commitment? We’re totally getting Austin Powers 4. Unless we don’t, which seems equally plausible. (Maybe even more so.)
The recent history of long-delayed satirical-comedy sequels — Anchorman 2, Zoolander No. 2, etc. — isn’t particularly encouraging. Those movies weren’t exactly bad, just missing the charm of their predecessors, and the box office receipts reflected that. The Austin Powers sequels, however, were massive moneymakers, if also not necessarily as good as the original masterpiece.
It sounds like Myers and Roach would be fine with making a new one — just as long as they come up with something worth making. All that sounds like the right idea, though we’ve certainly heard that sort of thing from filmmakers before.
Then again, we’ve heard this particular tidbit about a new Austin Powers movie from Roach before as well. In a 2016 interview, Roach told Larry King, “Mike Myers and I talk about it every time we get together. I would say it’s in a latent phase right now, but someday if we find the right idea that seems to have it earn itself, for sure.”
Sounds like Roach might be a little more into it, but obviously it’s Myers who’ll determine whether we see another tale of the defiant, debonair, defrosted secret agent.
And no, there will not be a grooooooovy, baby joke in this post. You’re welcome.