No Future for 'Dieter'

By Stephen M. Silverman

11/24/1997 at 12:00 AM EST

The beleaguered comedy "Dieter," which was to have starred Mike Myers, has been shut down in pre-production, Universal Studios announced on Friday. All 25 employees on the project have been laid off. The "Austin Powers" star is being sued for $5 million by the studio for backing out of "Dieter" (based on a German expressionist character he created for "Saturday Night Live"), while Myers claims that Universal was only trying to "bully" him into making the picture. Late last week it was reported that Steven Spielberg was stepping in to mediate between the studio and Myers.