It’s been two decades since the release of Disney’s hit live-action film, National Treasure. But that doesn’t mean that fans have stopped asking for a third film in the franchise. National Treasure was released in 2004 and National Treasure: Book of Secrets was released three years later. Fans of the franchise were sure that Disney would be releasing a third film, and they were never told that it wouldn’t happen. Twenty years later, and they still have faith.
Nearly two years ago, National Treasure producer Jerry Bruckheimer said that the script for a third film was currently in the works. He said that he wanted Nicolas Cage to return to the role of Ben Gates, and was hoping to get the script sent to him “shortly”.
Well, it doesn’t look like that script made it very far, because just a couple of weeks ago, Cage was asked about returning for a third film. His answer was probably not what fans of the franchise wanted to hear. In speaking with Screen Rant, Cage said that there were no plans for National Treasure 3. He even added, “If you want to find treasure, don’t look at Disney, okay? It’s not there.”
Despite the fact that Cage seemed pretty certain that the film franchise ended with Book of Secrets, Bruckheimer is taking a much more positive approach.
In an interview with Movie Web, Bruckheimer was told about Cage’s comments, but did not agree with the actor that a third film was dead in the water. Instead, he said that there was still hope and a script was still in the works!
“Well, we hope there’s a National Treasure 3 . We’ve been working on it for quite a while. We have a brilliant writer working on it right now, so hopefully, if we get a script in a timely fashion, we’ll send it to Nic [Cage] and, if he likes it, we’ll make another one. We certainly would like to.”
Related: Nicolas Cage Says Disney Turned Its Back on Him After Several Flops
Now, Nicolas Cage has said that he prefers making independent films, as opposed to big-budget films like National Treasure. He also isn’t on the best of terms with the Mouse House after they pretty much ignored him after several flops. But that does not mean he absolutely would not return if he was presented with a script.
Related: Was Nicolas Cage Visiting Disneyland to Promote a New Ride? Or Was It Ryan Gosling?
Disney tried to keep the National Treasure franchise alive with the release of a new series — National Treasure: Edge of History. The series premiered on Disney+ in 2022. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as successful as the films and was canceled after just one season. The series renewed hope in a third film due to Justin Bartha’s return as Riley Poole.
National Treasure also starred Diane Kruger as Abigail Chase, Jon Voight as Patrick Gates, and Harvey Keitel as Sadusky.
Do you want Disney to make a third National Treasure movie? Let us know in the comments!