What To Know
- Director Jon Turteltaub confirmed that National Treasure 3 is officially in development, with Nicolas Cage set to return.
- The first two National Treasure films, despite mixed reviews, were box office successes.
- After nearly two decades of stalled progress and a short-lived Disney+ spinoff series, the long-awaited third film is finally moving forward.
National Treasure fans have been clamoring for a third installment in the adventure film series, and filmmaker Jon Turteltaub finally uttered the two words they’ve long waited to hear: “It’s happening.”
Turteltaub, who directed both 2004’s National Treasure and 2007’s National Treasure: Book of Secrets, offered that scoop during a live taping of the National Treasure Hunt podcast at the Philadelphia Visitor Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
“I have not said anything before this, but you deserve to have the scoop,” Turteltaub told National Treasure Hunt hosts Aubrey Paris and Emily Black, per The Philadelphia Inquirer. “It’s finally real.”
That said, Turteltaub did have disclaimers to make, including one regarding National Treasure star Nicolas Cage.
“Now, it’s Hollywood real, meaning things could happen,” he said. “Nic gets hit by a bus, there’s no National Treasure 3. If I get hit by a bus, there’s probably a National Treasure 3. Welcome to Hollywood.”
The first National Treasure introduced treasure hunter Benjamin Franklin Gates, played by Cage, as he hunted for a centuries-old fortune, using the Declaration of Independence as a map and computer expert Riley Poole (Justin Bartha) and activist Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger) as accomplices. Despite middling reviews from critics, the film earned more than $331 million worldwide, per The Numbers.
National Treasure: Book of Secrets has Ben reuniting with Riley and Abigail to uncover conspiracies while trying to prove an ancestor’s innocence in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The critical consensus was again mixed, but the sequel grossed more than $457 million worldwide.
In 2022, Disney+ expanded the franchise with the TV series National Treasure: Edge of History, starring Lisette Olivera as Jess Valenzuela, a DREAMer embarking on an adventure to recover lost treasure and solve a family mystery. Bartha reprised his role from the films, and Harvey Keitel once again played FBI agent Peter Sandusky, then retired. Alas, Disney+ canceled the TV show after one season.
Still, a third film has been in development hell for nearly two decades. Turteltaub said in a 2008 interview that he and his colleagues, producer Jerry Bruckheimer included, were trying to get National Treasure 3 to theaters. Now, at last, it seems their wish will be granted.