National Treasure 3 is no longer just the sequel Nicolas Cage fans bring up whenever Disney announces a new slate. Director Jon Turteltaub says he and Disney now have a script they like, and the original cast is being discussed. The catch is simple: the movie has not entered production, and Cage is not officially signed.
Turteltaub shared the update during a live recording of the National Treasure Hunt podcast in Philadelphia. It is the most concrete public movement the long-delayed sequel has had in years, but it still sits on the development side of the line rather than the release calendar.
Turteltaub finally put a real update on the record
According to reports from TheWrap and The Philadelphia Inquirer, Turteltaub told the audience that a third movie is happening and that he and Disney like the current script. He also called the project “Hollywood real,” which is his way of saying the pieces are moving while the business side can still change them.
Disney has not announced a release date, a filming start, or a formal production schedule. The studio's positive response gives the script a path forward, but it is not the same thing as a greenlight that puts cameras on a set next week.
Nicolas Cage is part of the conversation, not the cast list
Turteltaub said the original stars, including Cage, are in talks to return. That is encouraging news for anyone who still thinks of the series as Ben Gates, Riley Poole, Abigail Chase, and a new historical clue. It is not a signed casting announcement. No deal has been made public, and there is no indication that filming has begun.
Cage is the part of this update that will decide how the sequel feels. A new lead could carry another treasure hunt, but Ben Gates is the character who turned secret messages, old maps, and American landmarks into a very specific kind of popcorn adventure. The movie can change its cast, but it cannot pretend that change would be invisible to longtime fans.
The first two movies give Disney a reason to keep trying
The 2004 National Treasure made about $347.5 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo. National Treasure: Book of Secrets followed in 2007 and reached roughly $459.2 million. Those numbers explain why the property has kept resurfacing even after a long stretch without a third movie.
Disney also tested the franchise as a streaming series. National Treasure: Edge of History was presented as an expansion of the films and ran for one season. It gave the studio a way to revisit the treasure-hunt idea with a new group, but the current update is about returning to the feature-film side of the property.
Disney has been setting up other theatrical follow-ups as well. Our coverage of The New Simpsons Movie looks at how the company is bringing another familiar screen property back to theaters.
The next movie may address a more divided America
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Turteltaub connected the long delay to the country's political climate and said the third story may have to acknowledge how quickly people read politics into everything. He did not reveal a plot, so this should not be treated as a confirmed political thriller or a description of the treasure at the center of the script.
It does suggest that the filmmakers are thinking about more than a new riddle. The original movies used history as a playground. A third one may have to decide how that history is argued over in the present, without losing the chase, the jokes, and the slightly ridiculous joy of finding a clue in a place everyone else walks past.
What still has to happen
The next meaningful update would be a formal Disney announcement, signed cast deals, a production start, or a release window. Until one of those arrives, “National Treasure 3 is happening” should be read as a director reporting real progress, not as a promise that the film is already on its way to theaters.
After nearly two decades since Book of Secrets, it is easy to skip straight to the first poster in your head. For now, all we have is a script Turteltaub and Disney like—and the possibility that the person who made Ben Gates worth following could return. Would you watch if Cage comes back, or should Disney hand the map to a new lead?
