Although the third one was, undoubtedly, the weakest, Austin Powers did have a huge impact on popular culture.
A lot of that was down to Mike Myers' purple patch in the late '90s and early '00s and the fact that the soundtracks were hugely popular, as well. Both Madonna and Beyonce contributed chart-topping songs for two of the Austin Powers movies.
Not only that, they were actually funny.
It's been fourteen years since Goldmember and nineteen since the first one, however director Jay Roach admitted that it's been discussed regularly both himself and Mike Myers. It was reported back in 2011 that a fourth film was in the works, but Roach admits that it's gone back into turnaround.
"It's in a latent phase, right now. Some day, if we find the right idea, that seems to have it earn itself, for sure," said Roach in a recent interview. As well as this, Roach went on to say that there's been several ideas kicked around by them, but no one particular idea has stuck.
There's definitely a lot of material that could work for Austin Powers, not the least of which being Daniel Craig's gritty take on James Bond. Not only that, you've got to imagine that Scotty Evil would be the head of some kind of social media conglomerate by now whilst Fat Bastard would clearly be living a vegan, gluten-free, quinoa-only diet by now.
Not only that, a number of the supporting cast have gone on to huge things. Moustapha was played by Will Ferrell, Beyonce is now one of the most well-known singers in the world and Seth Green's gone on to Family Guy, Robot Chicken and a few other things.
Most likely, the reason for the lack of an Austin Powers 4 is down to the fact that the last time Jay Roach and Mike Myers got together, we got The Love Guru. Yes, The Love Guru. Which currently sits at 14% on Rotten Tomatoes. Roger Ebert said that the film "could have been written on toilet walls by callow adolescents." Oof.
Let's remind ourselves of how good Austin Powers, in the meantime.
Via Larry King
