Director Jon Turteltaub confirmed that National Treasure 3 is officially moving forward after years of uncertainty. The announcement came during a live taping of the National Treasure Hunt podcast in Philadelphia. Turteltaub described the project as ‘finally real’ and said it is now ‘Hollywood real,’ meaning that it has studio support. He also mentioned that a screenplay is currently being written for the film and that efforts are underway to bring back much of the original cast.
Nicolas Cage is expected to reprise his role as Benjamin Franklin Gates, the treasure hunter from the original films, according to theweek.in. The first National Treasure film was released in 2004 and was followed by a sequel in 2007, according to a report from whatsondisneyplus.com. The franchise expanded with the Disney+ series National Treasure: Edge of History in 2022, but the main feature films remained dormant for nearly two decades, hypebeast.com reported.
Turteltaub noted that the changing political climate has influenced the delay in bringing the film to life. He said the new movie will reflect how American culture has evolved over the past twenty years.
Although the film is in early development, no official release date or production schedule has been announced yet. Disney and Cage’s representatives have not yet made any public statements about the project’s progress.
Cage is also working on other high-profile projects including a role in Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse and Lords of War. The original National Treasure grossed over $347 million worldwide and its sequel earned $459 million globally.
Fans of the franchise are hopeful that the return of Benjamin Gates will bring back the excitement and adventure of earlier installments.
IMAGE: Academy Award-winning actor Nicolas Cage meeting with fans after filming a scene for National Treasure 2 at the University of Maryland.. Photo: Kirk Weaver / Wikimedia, taken 2007-11-21, CC BY 2.0
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