Monday Morning Quarterback Part III
By BOP Staff
June 25, 2008
James D. Ruccio: I think it is the end of the line for him. Comedy actors either go one of two ways. They either realize they're limited by comedy roles and attempt to expand their abilities and resume - Jim Carey comes to mind. Otherwise, they ride the same shitckhorse until it drops dead (Will Ferrell with the exception of Stranger than Fiction).
Aside from voicework I don't think Myers is known outside of well established character driven comedies. The Love Guru was his attempt to create another character. Not that this latest attempt is an utter disaster. He has two choices...take a role outside of his comfort zone or run as fast as he can back to an established character. I suspect he's started the Austin Powers - 4 script already.
Scott Lumley: Sadly, it looks like it might be the end of the line for Myers. Shrek appears to be about finished, and DreamWsorks has a new franchise in Kung Fu Panda. I could see him getting some comedy roles with Saturday Night Live Alumni, but what studio would give him a budget worth anything right now? Hollywood has a pile of new funny guys with new ideas that are going for a lot less than Mike does. He's going to need to take a significant pay and control cut for his next film or he's not going to get one. Even if he does that, what's he going to do? A Wayne's World sequel? Another Austin Powers? Deiter? I just don't see any success there.
Daron Aldridge: Simply, this is "bad news bears" to quote Goldmember, given that Mike Myers was everywhere promoting this thing. Recently, he and Justin Timberlake hosted an extended Myers movie marathon on Comedy Central with Love Guru clips during commercials and there was his painful shilling of the movie during the American Idol finale, which failed to compel the millions of people watching to remember it a month later. Entertainment Weekly also did Myers no favors with a print article that went on for pages about his difficult behavior in the industry and an online photo gallery of the most offensive characters with Guru Pitka as the lead. Not a great time to be Mike Myers. As the owner of EW, maybe there was a little conspiracy on the part of Warner Bros. to boost Get Smart in direct competition with Love Guru...probably not, Love Guru is just that bad.
Jason Lee: If Eddie Murphy has taught us anything, it's that talent always wins out in the end. Murphy was in a couple of dismally unfunny comedies for a string of years and yet, in the right project (Dreamgirls or the upcoming A Thousand Words, which has a hysterical script) he can be golden. I think Myers is the same way. If not, I think both Warner Bros. and Myers alike will be willing to exercise their right to New Line's Austin Powers franchise.
Sean Collier: Mike Myers should probably worship a giant Shrek shrine rather than whatever deity Guru Pitka was supposed to follow. The kiddie franchise will guarantee that he keeps making money, in spite of failures like The Love Guru, The Cat in the Hat, View from the Top, 54...sensing a trend? The lesson of The Love Guru may be that Myers was never a particularly big draw - Austin Powers was a draw, Shrek is a draw, Wayne Campbell was a draw, but perhaps it was never Myers himself. Myers also needed to work more often than he has to this point - look at other comedy superstars like Adam Sandler and Will Ferrell, who've balanced their resumes with more serious fare. For Little Nicky, there's Punch-Drunk Love; for Semi-Pro, there's Stranger than Fiction. For The Love Guru, there's the four years we didn't think about Mike Myers that much. The unfortunate model for Myers' career from here on out may be his Shrek co-star, Eddie Murphy - once a comedy titan, now a guy who can't stop picking losing projects.
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