Despite making boatloads of cash, the animated Shrek franchise has arguably been driven into the ground, with its third and fourth installments failing to meet the critical success of the first two. Outside of this franchise, star Mike Myers hasn't been working too much and it's no surprise after his last live-action feature The Love Guru was a total failure.

While many fans would love to see him reunite with Dana Carvey for another Wayne's World, especially after they paired up to bring the sketch back more than once in recent years, we definitely are going to see Myers return to reprise his most recognizable character, the shagadelic super spy we know as Austin Powers.

HitFix just broke the news that comedian and voice actor extraordinaire, Mike Myers, has officially signed on to return as the title character in Austin Powers 4, a film which will likely take on a different title, spoofing another James Bond movie.

For years, we've heard murmurings of interest and movement in developing Austin Powers 4, but it's largely been up to Myers to make it happen and he's now decided the time is right and we can expect the movie to release in 2013.

Back in 2008, we reported that Myers had been working on the script alongside Mike McCullers who helped write the last two Austin Powers flicks, but nothing moved on that front for a two years, until director Jay Roach was asked about it at last year's ShoWest. He explained that Myers was still pondering ideas for the next Austin Powers sequel and that he'd definitely be ready to jump back into the director's chair (he directed the entire trilogy).

A while back there were also rumors of an Austin Powers spin-off movie that would focus on Dr. Evil but fortunately, that doesn't seem to be in the cards anymore and we can expect him and other franchise familiars to return for fourth main franchise installment instead. Hopefully, Austin Powers 4 will bring back Michael Caine as Nigel Powers, Seth Green as Scott Evil and Verne Troyer as Mini Me, along with many of the characters Myers plays himself.

Who knows, perhaps Myers' recent reappearances with Dana Carvey could lead to him being involved as well? Expect plenty of celebrity appearances regardless.

With the first three Austin Powers movies taking the names of International Man of Mystery, The Spy Who Shagged Me, Goldmember, what would you suggest for Austin Powers 4?

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Source: HitFix