Moviefone Editorial

Tag: mike-myers

  • Mike Myers to Star in Netflix Comedy Series as Multiple Characters

    Mike Myers to Star in Netflix Comedy Series as Multiple Characters

    ABC

    Mike Myers is returning to television — though, this time, it’s streaming television.

    The “Saturday Night Live” alum has signed on for his very first narrative TV series ever. He’ll start and executive a six-episode comedy series for Netflix.

    Myers will play multiple characters, much as he’s done in his “Austin Powers” movies. Not much else is known about the story or plot.

    “I love creating characters, and Netflix has given me a fantastic playground to play in,” Myers said in a statement.

    Myers was an “SNL” cast member from 1989 to 1995 and went on to a movie career. He most recently appeared in “Bohemian Rhapsody” as Ray Foster.

  • Mike Myers Says ‘Austin Powers 4’ Movie Is ‘Looking Good’

    Mike Myers Says ‘Austin Powers 4’ Movie Is ‘Looking Good’

    austin powers
    New Line Cinema

    Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery, is ready for his comeback, baby.

    “Austin Powers 4,” the follow-up to the hit spy comedy movies starring Mike Myers, has been in the works for a very, very long time. Fans began to despair that it would actually get made. But now, Myers is saying that things are “looking good” for the sequel.

    “Well, you’re going to see Dr. Evil soon somewhere in the culture. The movie … they take a long time to write. They always have,” Myers told Access.

    “[Director Jay Roach has] been super crazy — he’s doing a fantastic movie right now that he’s working on, but it’s looking good.”

    (Roach’s project is the Roger Ailes movie starring John Lithgow, Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, and Margot Robbie.)

    It’s been over two decades since Austin Powers first made his big screen debut in 1997’s “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.” That movie was followed by “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me” (1999) and “Austin Powers in Goldmember” (2002).

    Myers resurrected the movies’ villain, Dr. Evil, on “The Tonight Show” earlier this year and also told Entertainment Tonight that he’d like to do a spinoff focusing on the bald antagonist.

    “I would love to do a movie from Dr. Evil’s perspective,” he said. “So it would be ‘Dr. Evil 1’, ‘Austin Powers 4,’ is how I would roll.”

  • RIP, Verne Troyer: Mike Myers Honors ‘Austin Powers’ Costar as ‘Beacon of Positivity’

    Verne Troyer was best known for playing Mini-Me in two “Austin Powers” movies, but he was also part of the “Harry Potter” family as Griphook in “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.” Over the weekend, it was revealed via Troyer’s official Facebook account that he had died at age 49.

    Troyer’s cause of death has not been revealed, but the April 21 post shared these sad notes:

    “…Verne was also a fighter when it came to his own battles. Over the years he’s struggled and won, struggled and won, struggled and fought some more, but unfortunately this time was too much. […] Depression and Suicide are very serious issues. You never know what kind of battle someone is going through inside. Be kind to one another. And always know, it’s never too late to reach out to someone for help….”

    Mike Myers starred with Troyer in “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and “Austin Powers in Goldmember,” plus “The Love Guru.” Myers shared a statement on Troyer’s passing:

    “Verne was the consummate professional and a beacon of positivity for those of us who had the honor of working with him. It is a sad day, but I hope he is in a better place. He will be greatly missed.”

    Fans and friends shared memories and condolences on social media:

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  • ‘Terminal’ Teaser Shows Margot Robbie Is Mad as a Hatter

    Also, Mike Myers is in this crazy movie! And Simon Pegg. What a cast.

    The first teaser for “Terminal” won’t give you the first clue what it’s really about, but just slide down that rabbit hole anyway. The dark, twisted tone establishes itself easily enough, along with Margot Robbie‘s creepy, echoing voice-over:

    “There is a place like no other on Earth. A land full of wonder and mystery and danger. Some say to survive it you need to be as mad as a hatter. Which luckily, I am.”

    Then the cast credits flash on the screen as someone whistles … “Danny Boy”? Heck is this?

    The noir thriller marks the directorial debut of assistant director Vaughn Stein, who also wrote the script.

    Here’s the synopsis:

    “In the dark heart of a sprawling, anonymous city, Terminal follows the twisting tales of two assassins (Dexter Fletcher and Max Irons) carrying out a sinister mission, a teacher battling a fatal illness, an enigmatic janitor and a curious waitress leading a dangerous double life. Murderous consequences unravel in the dead of night as their lives all intertwine at the hands of a mysterious criminal mastermind hell-bent on revenge.”

    According to Deadline, Robbie plays a “dynamic woman named Annie” who may be more involved in their mission than they originally suspected.

    Here’s the teaser:So should we run with the theme that it’s a dark twisted Wonderland, or is it not going to be that simple? “Terminal” is scheduled for release in theaters on May 11.

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  • Why ‘Austin Powers’ Is Still the All-Time Greatest Comedy Trilogy

    This week Mike Myers‘s “Austin Powers in Goldmember” turns 15. The third film in the trilogy, which began somewhat inauspiciously with “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery” in 1997, made nearly $300 million worldwide, closed just as quietly. Despite occasional discussions of a sequel or reboot, with “Goldmember” the trilogy was definitively closed, and with it marked the end of the greatest comedy trilogy of all time. If you’re thinking that the movies were just goofy spy spoofs with sex humor and sight gags, well, you’re right. But they’re also much more. Yeah, baby yeah!

    The concept for the first film was inspired by Myers’s love of all things English. While he is Canadian by birth, his parents are from Liverpool, so everything that he was riffing on in the film (James Bond movies, British chat show hosts) was stuff that the comedian had grown up with. (For such a high-concept conceit it’s oddly personal.) When the first film was released it didn’t do particularly well, making $67 million worldwide on a $16.5 million production budget. But it grew in popularity on home video, thanks to then-burgeoning DVD format, so the decision to green light a sequel, which cost considerably more money and made a huge amount more (total gross: $312 million), was a no-brainer. Myers, who had started the project as a spoof of the seemingly endless James Bond franchise, had accidentally made a franchise himself.

    And what a franchise it was.

    One of the reasons that these movies are so great, and, in particular, this applies to “Goldmember,” is that they were each so different. The only constants were some ribald humor, extensive 007 references, and a plot device that involved, in some way, time travel. Everything else was up for grabs.

    Unlike most comedy trilogies, something like “The Hangover” or “The Naked Gun” (which were both successful in their own ways), which are careful to meticulously recreate the formula that made the original such a success with each passing movie, Mike Myers and his team of core collaborators were happy to throw out what didn’t work and start over from scratch. They fearlessly built, destroyed, and rebuilt the story’s “mythology” and took zany detours that would have been otherwise unthinkable (like introducing a disco-obsessed Dutch madman who turns his enemies penises into gold hood ornaments). Had the series been more conventional, we would have been robbed of such flights of fancy. There would have probably been just as many sex jokes though.

    But that brings us to another element that makes this trilogy so unforgettable — its surprising amount of heart. If you re-watch the first film, you’ll probably be taken aback by how sweet it is. It’s basically a fish-out-of-water comedy where the fish is an incredibly awkward ’60s swinger; not only does he acclimate to his new environment but he also changes, finding a more evolved person inside. While the sequel, undoubtedly the weakest entry in the trilogy, retreads some of the same lessons, the third film unlocks Powers’s previously unexplored daddy issues and his complex relationship with Dr. Evil, who it is revealed is his father.

    These are easily identifiable emotions and, wrapped inside all of the nonsense, relatable experiences. They might be distorted or bizarre, but if the franchise wasn’t so warm and huggable then it also wouldn’t be as lasting. Is there anything you can really vibe on in, say, the “Rush Hour” trilogy? Didn’t think so.

    Obviously, “Goldmember” and the other movies are spoofing James Bond films (“Goldmember” is a play on “Goldfinger,” “The Gong Show” (whatever that is about, we’re in, fully).

    These are films that look different, too. The first and third entries were photographed by Peter Deming, who shot “Evil Dead II” and is responsible for the look of Showtime’s bewitching “Twin Peaks” revival, beautifully emulating the films and eras that they spoofed but being richer and more detailed. They were all on a budget, even at their most expensive, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at them. They always had tremendous production design and a playfulness about them that is rarely seen in mainstream comedies. You’d give anything just to be on one of these sets for a few hours. (The voluminous supplemental materials that accompanied each film’s home video release only cemented this sensation.)

    The most important reason that makes Austin Powers the greatest comedy trilogy of all time is that it is still outrageously funny. It doesn’t matter if you make an appointment with your Blu-ray box set or catch 10 heavily edited minutes on TBS one Sunday afternoon, these movies are still hilarious in a way that few films, upon repeated viewings, are.

    Myers and director Jay Roach built a series that could stand the test of time. They’re indestructible. Like Austin himself they seem frozen from the period they were constructed in but are able to adapt to any modern setting. He might have been a product of the swinging ’60s but Austin Powers can fit in anywhere.

  • 22 Things You Never Knew About ‘Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery’

    Has it really been two decades since the release of “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery“? Yeah, baby! (Sorry not sorry).

    Released 20 years ago this week, on May 2, 1997, the modest and often obscure spoof of 1960s British spy movies launched a blockbuster franchise, countless catchphrases (and your friends’ terrible impersonations), and perhaps the most beloved character in Mike Myers’ gallery of goofballs.

    So hop in our time machine and travel back 20 years to learn the defrosted spy’s top secrets.
    1. Ming Tea, the psychedelic band that appears between scenes of the movie, seems like an afterthought, but it was actually the birthplace of the Austin Powers character. Myers started the band in the mid-’90s, along with alt-rocker Matthew Sweet and Bangles frontwoman Susanna Hoffs. The musicians would perform together in Los Angeles under swinging-’60s-style pseudonyms. Austin Powers was the name Myers came up with as the band’s lead singer, Sweet played bass as “Sid Belvedere,” and rhythm guitarist Hoffs was “Gillian Shagwell.”

    2. The band’s name came from a fictional beverage company in an obscure Italian thriller (1965’s “The 10th Victim“) starring original Bond Girl Ursula Andress. Ultimately, Hoffs’ husband, Jay Roach, would direct all three “Austin Powers” movies.
    3. Other inspirations were the British humor favored by Myers’ father, who had emigrated to Canada from England, and the Burt Bacharach song “The Look of Love” (a tune associated with the 1967 Bond spoof “Casino Royale“), which Myers heard one day on a car radio. It made him wonder what had happened to all the 1960s swingers, which prompted him to flirt with then-wife Robin Ruzan in a now-familiar English voice, where he would spout now-familiar archaic catchphrases. Ruzan urged him to write the routine down, and in three weeks, Myers had a screenplay.

    4. There are countless references to James Bond films throughout the “Powers” saga, but also references to many now-forgotten Bond knock-offs of the 1960s, from Dean Martin’s Matt Helm franchise to James Coburn‘s “Flint” movies to Michael Caine’s Harry Palmer films (the source of Austin’s chunky horn-rims).
    5. Originally, Myers didn’t want to play both hero and villain. He hoped to cast Jim Carrey as Dr. Evil, but while Carrey was interested, he was unavailable because he was making “Liar, Liar.”

    6. Myers’ Dr. Evil is clearly modeled to look like Blofeld from the Bond films, but his voice and gestures — even the pinky-to-the-mouth movement — were reportedly mimicry of Myers’ old “Saturday Night Live” boss, Lorne Michaels. Myers’ “Wayne’s World” co-star Dana Carvey reportedly grumbled that Myers’ Michaels impression was actually his imitation of Carvey’s own Michaels impression.
    7. Similarly, Myers spoofed Blofeld’s fluffy Persian cat as the hairless Mr. Bigglesworth. The pet was played by a feline named Ted Nude-Gent. (Insert “Cat Scratch Fever” joke here.)

    8. Yet another “SNL” comic, Colin Quinn, was offered the role of Scott Evil, but he turned it down. The role of Dr. Evil’s resentful son went instead to Seth Green.
    9. Another “SNL”-er, Will Ferrell, launched his movie career in “Austin Powers” as the unkillable henchman Mustafa.

    10. “Austin Powers” marked the first time that Elizabeth Hurley, then best known as Hugh Grant‘s model girlfriend, proved she could carry the lead role in a movie. She found acting opposite Myers difficult for two reasons. First, his antics kept her on the verge of cracking up and breaking character, which is why Vanessa so seldom makes eye contact with Austin. Second, as she recalled in 1999, “I’m ludicrously tactile, and Mike isn’t at all. But because I was so obsessed with Austin, I used to torment Mike by squeezing, stroking, and petting him at every opportunity.” She added, “When I see Mike now, I still launch massive physical attacks on him, which send him fleeing for cover.”
    11. One of the fembots is played by Cindy Margolis, the pinup who claimed, in the early years of the Web, to be the most downloaded woman on the Internet.

    12. Hockey fan Myers named two of the characters, General Borschevsky (Elya Baskin) and Commander Gilmour (Charles Napier), after two of his favorite Toronto Maple Leafs players.
    13. Myers claimed that up to 40 percent of the dialogue in the film was Improvised — most famously, the “Shhh” conversation between Dr. Evil and Scott.

    14. Myers thinks latex bald caps don’t look authentic enough on the big screen, so he shaved his head to play Dr. Evil. That meant shooting all his Austin scenes first, then going back and shooting all of Dr. Evil’s scenes. It was a process that became even more complicated in the sequels, when Myers was playing three or four characters at once.
    15. As in “Wayne’s World,” product placement is the source of many jokes throughout the film. Roach has said he prominently featured AOL in the film so that he could get a year’s subscription to the online service. There was also supposed to be a scene where Austin tries desperately to show his ’90s trendiness by drinking a Zima. But when Zima’s parent company, Coors, realized that the scene was making fun of their beverage, they yanked permission, and Austin found himself nursing a Tab diet cola instead.

    16. “Soul Bossa Nova,” the movie’s chirpy instrumental theme, was a song Quincy Jones wrote and recorded back in 1962. It had also served as the theme song to the Canadian game show “Definition,” which Myers had enjoyed as a kid. So its use here was a nostalgic in-joke for his fellow Canucks.
    17. The American cut of the film runs a brisk 94 minutes, but international audiences got to enjoy several additional scenes. Among them: an extended fight scene between Austin and Random Task; two scenes featuring Christian Slater as a hypnotized henchman; cryogenics gags involving the defrosting of Gary Coleman, Evel Knievel, and Vanilla Ice; and scenes where the families of various slain henchmen are informed of their tragic and violent deaths. (Among the next of kin: “Moonraker” Bond Girl Lois Chiles and Rob Lowe, who would play the younger version of Robert Wagner’s Number Two in the sequels.)

    18. The film cost a reported $16.5 million, which seems like an incredible bargain given the film’s visual inventiveness. It earned back $53.9 million in North America, making the film a modest hit in theaters, though its popularity really took off on home video. Two years later, “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me” would earn about $1 million more during its opening weekend than “International Man of Mystery” earned throughout its entire theatrical run.
    19. The PG-13 movie was close to scoring an “R” rating thanks to the film’s funny “nude blocking” scene between Austin and Vanessa. Director Jay Roach, in THR’s recent oral history about the film, said: “The nudity blocking was something the MPAA wanted to be sure we didn’t go too far with: the cheeky phallic references, like Elizabeth biting the sausage and holding the melons up. But they were all pretty innocent body-shape jokes. The only thing they asked us to do in the final cut, which was kind of surprising to me, was they thought there was too much butt-cheek on Mike when he got thawed out, so I went for a slightly more profile version.”

    20. In 1999, HBO made a deal for a 13-episode “Austin Powers” cartoon series that never came to be. But there would be a third installment in theaters, 2002’s hugely popular “Austin Powers in Goldmember.” Altogether, the franchise earned $676 million in theaters worldwide.
    21. A lot of that money went into the pocket of an actress who didn’t actually appear in any of the films. That was Demi Moore, who served as a producer on all three of them.

    22. Will there ever be a fourth “Powers” picture? There have been several reports over the past 15 years that another installment is in development. But in 2016, Roach indicated that there’s no movie in the works, though he said, “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…, for sure. Mike gave me the break of a lifetime in letting me direct [‘Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery’], so I’m always good to go.”

  • 11 ‘Austin Powers’ Quotes You Should Be Using Every Day

    “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery” came out 20 years ago if you can believe it, but that doesn’t make it any less hilarious.

    Mike Myers’ groovy shagadelic British spy still gets us every time, and the movie’s hysterical quotes haven’t lost their mojo at all over the last two decades. That’s why you should probably be using them on the regular. Here are eleven phrases you can say daily. Yeah, baby!

  • Sherry Lansing Got Mike Myers to Rewrite ‘Wayne’s World 2’ With Fake Threats

    Behind every movie there is conflict, but probably not often on the same scale as an issue that arose before 1993’s “Wayne’s World 2” started shooting.

    In “Leading Lady,” a new biography on actress-turned-studio head Sherry Lansing, author Stephen Galloway details the chaos that went down after Lansing discovered the sequel’s script was based on the 1949 comedy “Passport to Pimlico” yet no one had purchased the necessary rights. It was too late to acquire them, so the situation got ugly, especially for the sequel’s writer and star, Mike Myers.

    To avoid delays and eliminate the problem, Lansing decided Myers would have to do a complete rewrite. She didn’t exactly break the news gently, though, as the book recounts. According to John Goldwyn, a production chief at the time, she told Myers a made-up story about how the legal team was working on “figuring out how … [to] take every single thing” from him. Apparently, she scared into the fetal position, which, let’s be honest, we’d have ended up in, too.

    According to “Saturday Night Live” creator Lorne Michaels, who produced the film, Myers had thought the rights issue was sorted out, so it’s hard not to feel bad for him. However, in Lansing’s defense, the misunderstanding caused big problems. Production was so close that set building had already begun, making some of the work a waste of time and money.

    “It was just so difficult, there was so many changes,” director Stephen Surjik told the Regina Leader-Post in March 2017.

    Luckily, though, Myers was able to rewrite the movie to Lansing’s satisfaction, and the studio never followed through on her threats. Whatever you think of her methods, there is no denying the efficacy.

    [via: THR]

  • 18 Things You Never Knew About ‘Wayne’s World’

    Is it really the 25th anniversary of “Wayne’s World“? No whay! Whay!

    Yep, it’s been a quarter-century since “Saturday Night Live” slacker pals Wayne and Garth took their public access cable show from their Aurora, Illinois basement to the big screen. Released on Feb. 14, 1992, the film made Mike Myers a bankable star, spawned a sequel, sent Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” back up the chart, popularized numerous catchphrases (“Not!” “Schwing!” “We’re not worthy!”), and turned out to be the most successful film ever adapted from an “SNL” sketch.

    In addition to what we learned on its 20th anniversary, here are 18 things you need to know about this comedy hit. (Cue cascading-finger flashback gesture: Diddle-iddle-um, diddle-iddle-um, diddle-iddle-um…)
    1. Wayne and Garth may have been teenagers, but when “Wayne’s World” was filmed, Myers was 28, and Dana Carvey was 36.

    2. Carvey based Garth on his older brother, Brad, an electronic engineer.
    3. Tia Carrere, who became a star playing rocker Cassandra Wong, was born Althea Rae Janairo.

    4. “Wayne’s World” marked the feature film debut of not just Myers, but also of his “SNL” co-star Oz” star Lee Tergesen (as Wayne’s basement-show cameraman, Terry).
    5. Myers’ inspiration for the iconic opening scene came from his childhood memories of driving through Ontario with friends and singing along to “Bohemian Rhapsody.” As specific as his experience was, he was sure it was universal enough to resonate with others.

    6. In fact, as Myers learned on the set, Tergesen and Sean Sullivan (who played Wayne’s pal Phil) had done the same as kids.

    7. Producer Lorne Michaels and director Penelope Spheeris wanted to use a song by then-hot Guns N’ Roses for the scene, but Myers insisted on the 1975 Queen tune. In fact, he threatened to walk off the movie if he didn’t get his way.
    8. The head-banging required for the scene was a particular point of contention between the star and the director, since it required about four hours of painful neck-snapping to complete the brief scene. In a 2008 Entertainment Weekly interview, Spheeris mocked Myers for being “emotionally needy” during the shoot, saying, “You should have heard him bitching when I was trying to do that ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ scene: ‘I can’t move my neck like that! Why do we have to do this so many times? No one is going to laugh at that!’”

    9. By 2015, however, Spheeris and the cast were willing to chalk up the friction to everyone’s mutual perfectionism. “Mike was a sport about it,” Spheeris said, in a joint reunion interview with the cast in Rolling Stone magazine. Said Myers, “Dana and I both suspect we actually may have hurt our necks doing it. There were just so many angles and so many takes. It needed to be well-covered to just get that tone right.”
    10. Myers knew the completed scene was something special. As a courtesy, he sent a video of it to Queen guitarist Brian May, who responded with a gift to Myers of an autographed guitar. May showed it to the band’s dying frontman, Freddie Mercury. “Freddie loved it,” May told Rolling Stone. The singer passed away less than three months before the film’s release.
    11. The movie’s popularity took its soundtrack to No. 1 on the charts and sent “Bohemian Rhapsody” shooting up the singles chart to No. 2, 17 years after it had first become a hit. Helping boost the song was a video directed by Spheeris that incorporated footage from the movie.

    12. The shoot marked a dark and confusing time for Myers. Not only was it his first movie, but he was away from his ailing, Alzheimer’s-stricken father. Eric Myers passed just before “Wayne’s World” had its first successful test screening; he never got to see his son become a movie star.
    13. While working with Alice Cooper on the film, Myers became good friends with the shock-rocker’s manager, Shep Gordon, and eventually directed a documentary about him, 2014’s “Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon.”

    14. Myers has said the suits at Paramount found the film’s humor baffling at first. He said the first note he got back from the studio after screening the completed film read, “I don’t get it.”
    15. In fact, Myers and Spheeris didn’t agree on what was funny. They clashed over the scene where accident-prone Stacy (Lara Flynn Boyle) crashes her bike into a car, as well as the scene with Robert Patrick‘s cameo as a scary cop who reminds Wayne of Patrick’s “Terminator 2” villain.
    16. The star and director had a falling out after she refused to take up his suggestions on how to edit the film.

    17. When it came time to make the sequel a few months after the “Wayne’s World” release, a new director got the gig. Spheeris blamed Myers for nixing her for the “Wayne’s World 2” gig. “I hated that bastard for years,” she said.
    18. Eventually, however, the two reconciled. “Penelope is a very brilliant director,” Myers said in 2015. “She’s fantastic. Just really smart, caring, and very generous to me because God knows I didn’t know what the hell I was doing.” For her part, Spheeris said in 2013, “We’re all getting too old to be pissed, ‘Wayne’s World’ has such a beautiful, uplifting spirit about it. Why should there be a dark cloud?”


  • Schwing! This ‘Wayne’s World’ ‘SNL 40’ Sketch Is Excellent (VIDEO)

    Wayne's World, SNL 40
    There was plenty of nostalgia to go around during Sunday’s “SNL 40” special, including a reprise of beloved characters Wayne and Garth in a new “Wayne’s World” sketch.

    Mike Myers and Dana Carvey donned wigs and ripped jeans for the callback to their classic “Saturday Night Live” personas, sending up the show itself with a top 10 list shouting out all the things they — and viewers at home — love about the program, 40 years later. It included send-ups of their own penchant for catchphrases (Schwing!) and poked fun at both longtime producer Lorne Michaels, as well as relatively-new addition to the “SNL” canon Kanye West (who gamely played along as guards watched him closely in the crowd, lest he make a break for the stage to “interrupt” the proceedings).

    The goofy clip is sure to put a smile on your face, and make you want to bust out some air guitar as you sing along to the “Wayne’s World” theme song. Check it out below. We think you’ll find it’s pretty excellent.

    Photo credit: YouTube

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