Myers: 'Austin Powers 3'?

By Stephen M. Silverman

05/08/1998 at 12:00 AM EDT

The wheels are in motion for Mike Myers to develop and star in "Austin Powers 3," with Myers negotiating for a contract that would pay him an impressive $25 million advance against 21% of gross profits, reports Variety. (New Line, the studio behind the "Powers" franchise, is part of AOL Time Warner, as is PEOPLE.) While the original "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery" in 1997 was a modest hit with an $88 million worldwide gross, its sequel, 1999's "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me," grossed $309 million worldwide. Yet when Myers would be free to do "AP3" is open to question, the trade paper points out, given that he is also reportedly in negotiations to star in a remake of the Peter Sellers comedy "The Pink Panther" for director Ivan Reitman ("Ghostbusters").