The actor said that he “absolutely” believes there were more ‘Austin Powers’ stories to be told
Austin Powers may be awakening from a cryogenic freeze once again.
Franchise star Mike Myers teased the possibility of another installment in the spy spoof film series in a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, when he was asked if there was a fourth Austin Powers film in the works.
“I can neither confirm nor deny the existence or non-existence of such a project,” said Myers, 60, on the red carpet at the 49th AFI Lifetime Achievement Award event on Saturday, April 27, honoring Nicole Kidman.
Asked whether he thinks the character “has more story to tell,” the Saturday Night Live alum added simply, “Absolutely.”
Myers first made his debut as Austin “Danger” Powers — a secret agent who was cryogenically frozen in 1967, only to wake up to a completely different world 30 years later — in 1997’s Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, with Elizabeth Hurley as his fellow spy and love interest, Vanessa Kensington.
He also played Dr. Evil in the film, and would go on to portray additional villains Fat Bastard and Goldmember in the franchise’s two follow-up installments: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) and Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002).
The actor previously revealed he’d be down for reprising his role as the iconic character in a May 2022 interview with SiriusXM’s Jess Cagle, telling the host he “would love to do” a fourth movie in the hit comedy franchise.
After Cagle, 58, told Myers his response felt “like a confirmation” of a forthcoming addition film, the actor quipped, “It was a non-confirmed, confirmation confirmation.”
In the meantime, Myers appeared in a Super Bowl commerical for GM back in February 2022 that saw Dr. Evil agree to save the planet from climate change before trying to take it over. For the ad, he reunited with franchise costars Seth Green, Rob Lowe and Mindy Sterling.
Missing from that ad was Hurley, but she has expressed her interest in returning to the franchise after sitting out the third film while she was pregnant with her son, Damian (now 22).
In a November 2022 PEOPLE interview surrounding her movie Christmas in the Caribbean, the 58-year-old star said she’d “of course” be down for reprising her role as Vanessa — that is, as long as it involves Myers, whom Hurley said “goes down as one of my very favorite costars.”
“A brilliant man, fabulously kind and gentle and of course one of the best comedians on Earth,” the actress and model praised Myers.
But, Hurley added, her wardrobe might need some updating. “I’m not sure I’d fit in my costumes again,” she told PEOPLE, joking that she’d have to do the film “in slightly different costumes.”
At the end of the day, though, “Mike is a genius,” Hurley raved. “It would be wonderful to do something with him again.”
