Nikki Finke is reporting that she’s been told that Mike Myers has begun writing Austin Powers 4. Of course, rumors of the 4th installment have surfaced and submerged on so many different occasions that just this is not enough for Austin Powers fanatics to celebrate, but it is a step forward. Myers is collaborating on the project with Mike McCullers, who helped with both The Spy Who Shagged Me and Goldmember.

Most of the talks we’ve heard prior to this seemed to point at the movie following the Dr. Evil character and this report is no different. It seems this one would be very personal to Mike Myers and be loosely based on his relationship with his father, translated into the Dr. Evil/Scotty characters.

Nothing is official yet, but apparently New Line is borderline desperate for this one, so they’ll throw a few potato sacks full of money at Mike’s head, he’ll do his song and dance and make them (insert over-used Austin Powers joke here). Ba-zing.

Miss Finke made a good point saying “Does Myers realize he may no longer be a draw?” — which I completely agree with. The Love Guru looked like a complete joke from the beginning (and not in a good way) and even with the popularity of the other three movies, this one might not do as well as everyone assumes it will.

I’m sure ultimately, if this does happen, it will find success, and personally, I think it’s very smart to concentrate on the Dr. Evil character. If they are going to find more box office joy, it’s a lot more likely to be because of that character than it is Austin Powers.