More than two decades after Nicolas Cage first hunted for a Freemason treasure hidden on the back of the Declaration of Independence, director Jon Turteltaub says a third “National Treasure” film is finally moving into production. Turteltaub delivered the news Friday during a live taping of the “National Treasure Hunt” podcast in Philadelphia, telling a stunned crowd, “It’s happening. You’re the first people I have said this out loud to.”
The director, who helmed both the 2004 original and its 2007 sequel “Book of Secrets,” said the project has cleared a hurdle that sank previous attempts: an approved script. “We finally have a script that I like,” he said, adding that Disney’s response was that it “sounds like a movie we can make.” He tempered the enthusiasm with a familiar joke about Hollywood plans unraveling: “Now it’s ‘Hollywood real,’ meaning things could happen. Nic gets hit by a bus, there’s no National Treasure. If I get hit by a bus, there’s probably a National Treasure.”
Turteltaub indicated the original ensemble is largely expected to return alongside Cage, saying “to whatever extent we can, everyone’s back.” Bruckheimer had spent nearly two years offering incremental updates, and screenwriter Ted Elliott, known for several “Pirates of the Caribbean” scripts, was previously reported writing the draft. No release date has been set.
The road here has been anything but smooth. Talks of a sequel stretch back to at least 2010, gaining more serious momentum around 2020. Cage himself threw cold water on the idea in a blunt March 2024 interview, telling ScreenRant, “There is no National Treasure 3. If you want to find treasure, don’t look at Disney, okay? It’s not there.” Bruckheimer pushed back weeks later, saying the project remained active. Disney did produce one spinoff in the interim: the 2022 series “National Treasure: Edge of History,” starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, canceled after one season.
The first “National Treasure” grossed $347 million worldwide on a $100 million budget, following historian Ben Gates as he steals the Declaration to uncover a map to a lost treasure. “Book of Secrets” expanded the box office haul to $459 million, adding Helen Mirren, Ed Harris and Bruce Greenwood to a cast that already included Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, Sean Bean, Jon Voight and Harvey Keitel. Turteltaub also cited shifting political dynamics as part of what slowed development, recalling how the first film drew skepticism from both sides of the aisle over its patriotic framing. Disney declined to comment.
