©2017 TriStar Pictures, Inc. and MRC II Distribution Company L.P.(LOS ANGELES) — One sight gag in the hit heist movie Baby Driver is apparently causing a run on rubber Austin Powers masks, and both writer-director Edgar Wright and Mike Myers himself couldn’t be more pleased.
In the film, in which Ansel Elgort plays a getaway driver for a crime boss’ robbery teams, a quartet of thieves headed by Jamie Foxx expects to hide their identity behind Michael Myers masks — as in the pale-faced baddie from the Halloween movies — only to find a dopey underling purchased masks of actor Mike Meyers, who plays that International Man of Mystery.
The Hollywood Reporter says you can’t find the Austin Powers masks anywhere, and a quick online check appears to support that.
While the shortage could also simply due to Halloween, and the fact this year is the 20th anniversary of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, it’s likely the Baby Driver gag is also driving the rush. Wright tells the Hollywood Reporter he predicted as much to Warner Bros., which released the Austin Powers movies.
Incidentally, Wright called for having the robbers get three proper Halloween masks and one Austin Powers one, but couldn’t get the rights in time.
Ironically, the 1978 Michael Myers Halloween mask is actually actually a Star Trek mask of William Shatner, just painted white, due to the movie’s low budget.
For his part, Mike Myers — the actor — tells The Hollywood Reporter, “I’m equally proud of my work as the killer in Halloween as I am for my work in Austin Powers.”
(Video contains uncensored profanity.)
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