For fifteen years now there’s been a lingering question for some Disney franchises, where is National Treasure 3? Talks about a sequel focusing on Nicolas Cage’s Benjamin Franklin Gates have been ongoing ever since then but nothing concrete has ever come up. Once Disney+ confirmed that a National Treasure TV series was headed to the streamer, and wouldn’t feature Cage’s character, it seemed like maybe the time had passed; but speaking in a new interview to promote Top Gun: Maverick with ComicBook.com series producer Jerry Bruckheimer confirmed that a script for National Treasure 3 has been written and they’re just waiting on Cage to approve it.
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“Let’s hope we’re working on the script right now. Hopefully [Cage] likes it, but it’s really good. So I think we’ll get it to him shortly,” Bruckheimer told us.
With the upcoming Disney+ series moving forward, and featuring plenty of other returning faces from the franchise, the likelihood of National Treasure 3 seemed low, even Cage himself poured water on the idea earlier this year. When asked back in April if there will be a National Treasure 3 during a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” Q&A, Cage answered, “No, the priority was to turn it into a TV show so I would say probably not.” Now here we are just four months later and things appear to have changed.
Cage also reflected on the stalled status of National Treasure 3 in an interview with GQ. The Academy Award winner noted that a lot of his other films that were released in the wake of National Treasure 2 didn’t do so hot, saying: “The phone stopped ringing. It was like,’What do you mean we’re not doing National Treasure 3? It’s been 14 years, why not. Well, Sorcerer’s Apprentice didn’t work, and Ghost Rider didn’t really sell tickets. And Drive Angry just came and went.” Based on what Jerry told us, sounds like Nic should keep his phone nearby.
As for the National Treasure TV series, the creators remain hopeful that Cage could show up on the Disney+ series. “We’re going to beg and plead and whatever,” co-creator Marianne Wibberley told Deadline. “We’ll have him in two seconds. He’s our favorite actor out of everyone. We pitched him as Ben Gates before he was Ben Gates. He was our first choice.”
Production on National Treasure: Edge of History began earlier this year and will welcome back both Justin Bartha as Riley Poole and Harvey Keitel as Peter Sadusky from the two National Treasure movies.
Top Gun: Maverick is on digital beginning on August 23rd, with the 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD release hitting stores on November 1st.
