Mike Myers has confirmed a fourth Austin Powers film is in development, and the creative centre of gravity has flipped. In an interview with Hollywood Insiders, Myers said the current script leans into his arch-villain: “Oh, well, there is going to be more Dr. Evil.” He added, “This one is more from Dr. Evil’s point of view so far.”
The franchise launched in 1997 with Myers playing both the shagadelic British spy and his bald nemesis. Myers first hinted at a follow-up in 2024 and told a FIFA World Cup watch party in June that Austin Powers 4 would happen. There is still no release date, but the creative direction is now clear: the villain gets the lens.
The studio’s first note was wrong
That pivot matters because of what the studio originally believed. After a screening of the original film, Myers says one of the first notes was to reduce Dr. Evil’s role. The concern: he was mean to Austin Powers, so audiences would not like him.
The audience data disagreed. Myers estimates the preference split is “almost 50-50” between Dr. Evil and Austin Powers. “People like Dr. Evil as much as they like Austin Powers,” he said. The character got laughs, Myers pushed back, and nearly three decades later Dr. Evil is being handed the sequel’s point of view — not a smaller part.
Why it matters for the screen business
For media planners and franchise teams, this is a case study in character-level demand. A single screening-room note nearly demoted a breakout character. What surfaced the truth was repeat audience response: laughs at screenings, enduring fan preference, and enough enthusiasm to sustain two Dr. Evil commercials and now a sequel built around him.
Franchises are portfolios of characters, not just titles. For a media buyer deciding which franchise moment to sponsor, or a marketer choosing an asset for a campaign, knowing which character carries the strongest affinity is more useful than overall title recall. Dr. Evil is the proof point: the audience chose him at a 50-50 split, and the sequel is being engineered around that signal.
The practical lesson:
- Measure sentiment by character, not just by title
- Weigh repeat audience response against a single internal note
- Let breakout characters reshape franchise strategy before a competitor copies the formula
The outlook
Austin Powers 4 has no date yet, but the direction is set: more Dr. Evil, fewer assumptions. A villain-led revival gives marketing a differentiated asset — a fan-favourite character who can carry trailers, brand partnerships and standalone spots like the two Dr. Evil commercials Myers has already shot. The next concrete signal will be a release window or a distribution partner, which will show how serious the studio is about extending a nearly thirty-year-old IP.
Source: ComingSoon.net
