Just when you thought it was safe to get back in the Mini Cooper, Mike Myers has unearthed his crooked, yellowed old Austin Powers dental prosthetics, sharpened one incisor into a pen, and used it to sign a ragged contract that will lead to a fourth Austin Powers film. Or so we’re told.

HitFix reports that the actor is “signed, sealed, delivered” for the fourth chapter in the comedy (some might say ‘comedy’) series that has lain dormant since 2002’s Goldmember. Will Jay Roach return to direct? We don’t know. We don’t know the story, or any specific details. Rumors of a fourth film have flown for many years, briefly intensifying in 2008 when Myer’s last big comedy outing, The Love Guru, tanked in spectacular fashion. At that point, Austin Powers evidently seemed like safe refuge and perhaps, after a decade of doing mostly Shrek-related work, it still does.

When those reports cropped up, Myers was said to be writing an Austin Powers script that was “very personal with a father and son theme loosely based on his own life,” which would theoretically result in another pairing with Powers’ on-screen son Seth Green. A Dr. Evil movie was also a possibility at one point but, frankly, that sounds even worse than a fourth film centered once more around the now very well-worn Powers schtick.

Not to be too negative, if Myers can find a way to refresh the series’ familiar formula, he might have something funny. But the idea of another ninety minutes full of leering “YEAH, baby!” dialogue isn’t all that appealing. Perhaps I’m alone in that outlook? What say you — does the idea of a fourth film in the series turn your crank?