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It’s quite a time to be a movie-loving millennial. Two comedy classics are about to get the sequel treatment: Mike Myers is returning as Austin Powers, and Jim Carrey is coming back as the Grinch in a follow-up to How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Myers confirmed a fourth Austin Powers film would happen, when asked on Trevor Noah’s World Cup Watch Party stream on June 16, while Variety reported that same week that Carrey and director Ron Howard are re-teaming for a sequel to the holiday classic. Consider this your early Christmas and shagadelic birthday rolled into one.
Why does it matter beyond the obvious joy of it all? Because nostalgia among millennials runs deep, and it has proved to be a wildly successful strategy at the box office. Just look at the renewed life of the Scream franchise or the runaway success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie. What’s old is new again is practically a millennial religion at this point, and Hollywood executives have clearly decided to lean all the way in.
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And honestly? Good. These aren’t just movies, they’re cultural touchstones that defined a generation’s sense of humor. The idea of getting more of both feels less like a cash grab and more like a gift. To quote Austin Powers, it’s “groovy, baby.”