It’s been over six years since Disney greenlit a third National Treasure movie. Years of radio silence, and a short-lived TV spinoff, seemed to indicate this revival wasn’t in the cards after all, and that was the end of that.
Apparently not, though. Per the Philadelphia Inquirer, director Jon Turtletaub revealed on Friday night that National Treasure 3 was “finally real.” At a weekend event devoted celebrating the first movie, he told attendees they “deserve to have the scoop:” there’s a script he and Disney currently like, and there’s a plan to bring back everyone “to whatever extent we can.”
What makes National Treasure 3 more likely now? For one thing, Nicolas Cage has been having a high-profile moment recently thanks to Longlegs and Spider-Noir, and with Indiana Jones currently retired, Cage’s Ben Gates can once again fill the void of big screen adventurers. And more broadly, nostalgia’s been talking for Disney: Devil Wears Prada 2 was a big hit this year, and the studio’s been open about wanting to revitalize other franchises like this and Pirates of the Carribean.
To the skeptics, Turtletaub amended the threequel’s status is currently “Hollywood real, meaning things could happen. If Nic gets hit by a bus, there’s no National Treasure 3. If I get hit by a bus, there’s probably a [movie].” Part of why it’s taken so long to get off the ground is the United States’ current political climate, which has involved actively removing the more racist parts of the country’s history from public record. If the film happens, the state of affairs is something he hopes to tackle, as he doesn’t think “we’re allowed to ignore it. I think we have to include that idea in the story somehow without making someone feel put off,” he said.
We’ll have more on National Treasure 3 as news emerges.
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