National Treasure 3 Is Officially Moving Ahead, Jon Turteltaub Says Nicolas Cage Will Return

Benjamin Gates may be about to start another hunt.

More than 20 years after the first National Treasure hit theaters, franchise director Jon Turteltaub has revealed that a third chapter in the Disney adventure series is now being worked on.

Speaking at a live taping of the National Treasure Hunt podcast on Aug. 21, Turteltaub told the audience he had been debating whether to share the update and decided to say it on the spot.

“It’s happening,” he said. “You’re the first people I’ve actually said that to out loud.” He then added that the project is “finally real.”

Turteltaub, who helmed both the 2004 original and 2007’s National Treasure: Book of Secrets, also noted that nothing in Hollywood is guaranteed until cameras roll.

“It’s Hollywood real,” he explained. “That means it can still change. If Nic gets hit by a bus, there’s no National Treasure. If I get hit by a bus, there probably still is. That’s Hollywood.”

According to the director, the screenplay for National Treasure 3 has already been completed and received approval from both him and Disney, with the studio reportedly responding that it “sounds like a movie we can make.”

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer is also said to be supportive. The podcast’s Instagram account noted that he has given the script his blessing as well.

The original film followed historian Ben Gates, played by Nicolas Cage, as he teamed up with Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger) and Riley Poole (Justin Bartha) on a high-stakes mission involving the Declaration of Independence and a hidden Freemason treasure. The sequel brought back the core cast, including Jon Voight and Harvey Keitel.

Even so, a third movie has spent years stuck in development limbo. Fans got a small return to the universe in Disney+’s short-lived 2022 series National Treasure: Edge of History, which featured appearances by Bartha and Keitel and revisited the second film’s unresolved tease about page 47 in the Book of Secrets.

Bruckheimer previously suggested in 2022 that work on another film was still underway, saying the team continued to develop a theatrical National Treasure project with Cage.

For now, the long wait appears to be over—at least in principle. More details are expected as the project moves forward.