Nicholas Cage Returns: National Treasure 3 Gets Greenlight

Remember the rush of seeing a map, a ticking clue, and Nicolas Cage racing through history? That adrenaline might be back on the big screen. Jon Turteltaub, director of the first two National Treasure films, announced in Philadelphia that Disney has given a green light to a third installment with Cage attached.

He shared the news live on the National Treasure Hunt podcast, turning a routine recording into a surprise reveal for the audience. Turteltaub made a point of telling the crowd that they were hearing it from him first, and the reaction was unmistakable—cheers and applause filled the room.

Disney is reportedly satisfied with the current script, and the studio is aiming to bring back as many original cast members as possible, Cage included.

That line alone shifts the conversation. For years fans wondered if Ben Gates would ever return. Cage himself seemed uncertain not long ago. In 2022 he openly worried that recent box-office misfires had cooled Hollywood's interest in him. He even quipped that his phone had stopped ringing. And later, in a blunt interview, he declared, 'There is no National Treasure 3.'

So what changed? Turteltaub didn’t map out a release date or a shooting schedule during the podcast, but his confidence suggested momentum where there had been only rumor. If Disney truly moves forward, this project marks a rare comeback: familiar faces, a franchise rebooted not by reinvention but by reunion.

The National Treasure saga began in 2004, with Cage playing treasure hunter Ben Gates. Critics were lukewarm, but audiences were not—the first film grossed around $347 million worldwide. Disney followed with National Treasure: Book of Secrets in 2007, which outperformed its predecessor and hauled in about $460 million globally. Those numbers explain the studio's interest in returning to a proven property.

There are still many unknowns: casting confirmations, a production timeline, and whether the tone will lean nostalgic or push the formula into new territory. But even the hint of a fresh hunt is enough to make fans dust off old theories and rewatch the map-marked scenes.

So, who’s ready to follow Ben Gates into another mystery? Keep your compass handy.