Austin Powers To Go Head To Head With 'Goldmember'

In typical Austin Powers style Austin Power 3, which begins production this November, will see Powers go head to head with the villainous Goldmember. An obvious play on the infamous Goldfinger there is not yet any confirmation as to whether or not his full name will be Auric Goldmember. However, according to Variety the film will be titled Austin Powers: Goldmember.

Ananova have reported that Goldmember has some 'unusual' qualities that the film's makers hope to keep secret until its release. Myers will also again play Powers, Dr Evil, Fat Bastard and presumably Goldmember for a neat little sum of $25 million.

"It's the most interesting, exotic villain people have seen in a long time, and every time Mike lapsed into the character in readings, we would literally lose it and take time to regain our composure," the film's director Jay Roach told www.variety.com.

The film's producers are talking to Verne Troyer about returning as Mini-Me, and the plan is to have Seth Green reprise his role as Dr Evil's son Scott, with Robert Wagner back as No 2. Heather Graham might return for a cameo, but a new love interest will be introduced.

The script leaves open the possibility for star cameos, but Roach said there was no truth in reports that Tom Cruise will appear in the film. Nonetheless, look out for Pierce Brosnan to perhaps make a cameo. Brosnan was approached to star in Powers II but had to decline due to a full schedule. The same could apply for Powers III. Brosnan is working on his own production till November and begins Bond 20 in January.

With the announcement of the project getting under way it now seems that MGM's "The Birth of the Pink Panther" and Universal's "Meet the Fockers" will be delayed indefinitely, though it's likely that at some future date they'll crop up again but that could be quite sometime and with a lot of different cast and crew.

One interesting thing to note is that Powers III may be released within weeks of Bond 20! Though a very tentative release date of July 26th 2002 has been mentioned for Powers III it of course could be well delayed closer to November and closer to Bond 20. Will Powers cause some damage to the Bond franchise? If you want to discuss that notion, try the Bond 20 Forums. It is afterall Bond 20 related. See you there!