Austin Powers is a film franchise from New Line Cinema starring Mike Myers in the title role and directed by Jay Roach. The films feature ridiculous plots, one-dimensional characters and outrageous sexual innuendo. The films are associated with the spy films of the 1960s that had cliché villains and attractive leading men. Austin Powers is the main character of the series. He is a British super-spy who travels the world thwarting the plans of Dr. Evil as he tries to use various over-the-top weapons to extort extremely low and high sums of money from world powers.
Mike Myers first conceived of the character while driving home from hockey practice. The song "Look of Love" by Burt Bacharach came on the radio and made Myers question where all the swingers went. Capitalizing on this idea, he invented the title character and the supporting cast. Myers chose to portray not only Austin Powers, but various other characters such as Dr. Evil, Fat Bastard and Goldmember who appear throughout the series.
Myers also uses his own band, Ming Tea, for many musical numbers, highlighting the fashions of the 1960s mod era mixed with the psychedelic imagery of the films.
Most people believe that Austin Powers was merely a takeoff on James Bond, specifically the Sean Connery exploits of the 1960s. Myers and Roach also use the photography elements of the film "Blow-Up," the over-the-top exploits of "Our Man Flint" and the glasses of "The IPCRESS File." In actuality, a number of 1960s films and popular culture influenced the films. Myers himself was most influenced by the performance of Peter Sellers in many movies, most notably the 1967 send-up of James Bond, "Casino Royale."
The third installment to the series moved in a new direction and included elements of the 1970s exploitation films as well as references to disco and the many fads of the era.
Austin Powers' influence over popular culture was immense, especially during the period of time in which the movies were released. Catchphrases were the most popular including "Shagadelic," "Do I make you horny?" "Yeah, baby!" and "Behave!" Many popular sitcoms of the era and, indeed, much of the fan base reveled in the usage of Austin's famous lines.
The music was also very popular. The soundtracks themselves sold millions of copies. Popular musicians such as Lenny Kravitz, Madonna and Britney Spears all performed music for the film. The film's music supervisor, George Clinton, also provided much of the success in this area.
"Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery" was released to a lukewarm reception in 1997. The film cost a total of $16.5 million to make and returned only $53 million. Normally, in Hollywood, this would never call for a sequel to be made. However, the film soon garnered a cult following with midnight showings and strong video sales.
"Austin Powers in The Spy Who Shagged Me," released in 1999, became the third highest grossing film of the year with $206 million at the box office. This made Austin Powers the only film in history to have its sequel out-earn the original in one weekend.
"Austin Powers in Goldmember" also received much fanfare upon its release in 2002. The film made $213 million, out-earning both previous films. However, the studio and Mike Myers felt that the effects of Austin Powers mania were wearing off and a fourth film was abandoned.