The Big Picture Earlier this week, Nicolas Cage resurfaced the fan-favorite American History treasure hunting franchise when discussing the possibility of a National Treasure 3. The franchise received a continuation in the form of Disney+'s National Treasure: Edge of History, which premiered in 2022. The series is a clear spin-off set within the same universe as the National Treasure films: 2004's National Treasure and 2007's National Treasure: Book of Secrets.
Despite this clear segue into a subsequent film that would deliver on the promise of something "life-altering," the concept has still not materialized. The reasons behind the lack of a third film, however, are almost as mysterious as the franchise's clues themselves. After all, both National Treasure films fared well at the box office, and even though critical responses were mixed, the movies garnered sizable fan-followings, particularly among younger viewers.
As the 2010s came along, though, development on the project seemed to stall. In 2013, Turteltaub said that he expected a third film in production within the next couple of years. The following year, however, franchise producer Jerry Bruckheimer noted that a new team was taking over the script, and in 2016, Nicolas Cage told Collider that a script was still being written and fact-checked for historical accuracy.
Related ‘National Treasure 3’: Jerry Bruckheimer Confirms Script Has Been Written Will we finally see the return of Ben Gates? Now it's possible that Cage was pulling an Andrew Garfield and lying out of sworn secrecy to Disney. Still, audiences shouldn't hold their breaths. With all the National Treasure development hiccups since 2007 , the prospect of a third film has grown decreasingly likely. When the first National Treasure came out, it was a different time for Disney.