Could Austin Powers 4 be coming sooner than expected?

Last August, it was confirmed that Mike Myers would be returning for a fourth AUSTIN POWERS movie. Since then, there has been zero movement. The movie is still listed at IMDB but there is no news beyond that.

In a recent interview, Edwina Trout, who runs the entertainment advertising blog Monkey Art Awards, was asked what advertising campaigns she is looking forward to in the next year. This was her response: “I, FRANKENSTEIN. THE GREAT GATSBY. ROBOPOCALYPSE – or is it RoboCopalypse? The new AUSTIN POWERS movie. Pretty good guess what the ME AND MY SHADOW one sheet will look like.”

Those first three titles are all movies that we know are in production or already being promoted. I did some searching and found that ME AND MY SHADOW is an upcoming hand drawn animated film from Dreamworks featuring the voices of Bill Hader, Kate Hudson, and Josh Gad. ME AND MY SHADOW, being directed by Mark Dindal (THE EMPEROR’S NEW GROOVE, CHICKEN LITTLE), tells the story of Shadow Stan, an incredibly frustrated shadow that yearns for a more dynamic life but happens to be stuck with Stanley Grubb, the world’s most boring human. Eventually pushed to the brink, Shadow Stan breaks the singular rule of the Shadow World – “they lead, we follow.”

While ME AND MY SHADOW has a 2013 release date on IMDb, this is the first hints of movement on the AUSTIN POWERS front. Could this be just a fluke? Trout seems to be in the know as far as the entertainment world goes, so she may know more than any of us. It seems hard to believe that it could have slipped through the cracks on the internet since Mike Myers has not done much since INGLORIOUS BASTERDS.

If it turns out to be true, expect more news to come soon.