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BY LAUREN ZIMA
He’s back, baby! First, international man of mystery -- now, Broadway star? Almost 10 years after the last Austin Powers movie came out, he’s reportedly coming back, mojo and all.
Mike Myers is writing a stage musical for his hilarious British Intelligence Agent. The show will be set in swingin’ 1960s London, and serve as a prequel to the three movies, which came out in 1997, 1999 and 2002, and grossed a shag-worthy $676 million worldwide. The music will come from Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello, both of whom made cameos in the movies.
Myers will write, but not star in the adaptation. Still, with or without Myers, Gothamist is not feelin’ the love on the musical -- calling the character, quote, “dated.”
“The only people benefiting … are Myers, for whom this will likely be a total cash cow, and the legions of Midwestern tourists who will feed him.”
And CBS New York agrees. This writer misses the old days of Broadway.
“Long gone are the days of Clifford Odets and the Group Theater using the Broadway stage as a platform for social change. Nowadays we just sit back and watch a movie we’ve already seen played out before us. … Even Bring it On is touring as a musical.”
But SlashFilm points out that the Tony-award winning co-director of “The Book of Mormon”, Casey Nicholaw, is in talks to direct the Powers musical, which gives the adaptation Broadway street cred. Slashfilm says the swingin’ screen-to-stage move is actually perfect for the spy series.
“ … it makes a lot of sense. … the past films have featured musical numbers, and Myers himself is said to consider the movies to be musicals. … Austin Powers’ garish style should translate fantastically to the stage musicals, where over-the-top spectacle isn’t just welcomed but encouraged.”
Believe it or not, Myers is also reportedly working on a fourth Austin Powers movie -- rumors first broke a few months ago, but now, reports are the movie could be out by 2013.