Believe it or not, I actually remember a time in my life when I actually looked forward to Mike Myers movies. Growing up on Saturday Night Live during the mid-90s and watching movies like Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Wayne's World and So I Married an Axe Murderer, I legitimately thought that Myers was one of the best comedic actors out there. Then the last decade happened. The many has spent the last year making nothing but sequels and awful original movies like The Love Guru, View From The Top and The Cat In The Hat. The only good thing he has done recently was Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds, and that was really just an exposition-laced cameo. Sadly, it doesn't seem like Myers has any desire to get his career back on the right path.
HitFix has learned that the Canadian comedian has closed a deal that will see him star in Austin Powers 4. There is no director attached to the project as of yet, but one has to imagine that the studio would be interested in bringing back Jay Roach, who directed all three previous films. The character hasn't appeared in a film since 2002's Austin Powers in Goldmember, which received middling reviews from critics and the role will be Myers' first live action part since The Love Guru, which was panned across the board.
This is just sad. Much like Eddie Murphy, I think Myers actually still has the capacity to be funny, but has gotten to a point where he realizes that he doesn't actually have to try in order to rake in the cash. To be honest, I'm surprised that it's taken this long for him to officially sign on and for the project to be put in motion as Goldmember made more money domestically than any other film in the franchise. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go stock up on earplugs so that I can drown out the sound of people trying to bring back, "Yeah, baby! Yeah!"
