‘National Treasure 3’ Is Officially Happening, Director Reveals in Surprise Announcement

For nearly two decades, fans of Nicolas Cage’s treasure-hunting historian Ben Gates have been waiting for a follow-up to ‘National Treasure: Book of Secrets.’ The 2007 sequel closed out a franchise that had become a genuine cultural touchstone, blending American history with globe-trotting adventure, and its absence has only grown louder with each passing year.

That silence was finally broken during Philadelphia’s first-ever ‘National Treasure’ Weekend, a three-day celebration built around the city’s deep ties to the original 2004 film. Several iconic scenes from the first movie were shot in Philadelphia, a city that has embraced the film despite its reputation for being tough to please.

The moment came Friday night during a live taping of the ‘National Treasure Hunt’ podcast at the Independence Visitor Center. Director Jon Turteltaub told hosts Aubrey Paris and Emily Black that a third film in the franchise is officially a go, marking one of the reasons it’s taken almost 20 years to get here: the shifting political climate in the country. According to a report from The Philadelphia Inquirer, the crowd was initially stunned into disbelief before erupting into applause once Turteltaub confirmed they were the first people he had told.

“I have not said anything before this, but you deserve to have the scoop,” Turteltaub said during the podcast recording, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. “It’s finally real. Now, it’s Hollywood real, meaning things could happen. Nic gets hit by a bus, there’s no ‘National Treasure 3.’ If I get hit by a bus, there’s probably a ‘National Treasure 3.’ Welcome to Hollywood.”

Turteltaub, who also directed ‘Cool Runnings,’ ‘While You Were Sleeping’ and ‘The Meg,’ said there’s a script that he and Disney are both happy with, and that the original cast is largely expected to return alongside Cage. That lines up with previous reporting from producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who has spent the past two years dropping breadcrumbs about the project’s progress, including confirmation that Ted Elliott, the screenwriter behind multiple ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ films, was brought on to write the script.

The road to this point hasn’t been smooth. Cage himself threw cold water on the idea back in March 2024, telling ScreenRant bluntly that “there is no National Treasure 3” and taking a swipe at Disney for the delay. Those comments stood in sharp contrast to more optimistic updates from Turteltaub and Elliott, who told the National Treasure Hunt podcast in August 2024 that a first draft was already finished and included Ben, Abigail Chase and Riley Poole.

Turteltaub also used the Philadelphia event to explain part of why the third film has taken so long to materialize, describing how politics has increasingly seeped into the conversation around the franchise. He recounted former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy once calling him to request a private screening of the original film for Congress, surprised that a movie seen as patriotic had been made by people some assumed leaned Democratic. Turteltaub said that dynamic, and the broader tendency for audiences to read politics into everything, will factor into the new script.

“We have to be very careful, but I don’t feel we are allowed to ignore it,” Turteltaub said, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. “I think we have to include that idea in the story somehow without making someone feel put off.”

No release date, plot details, or confirmation on whether the film will include any Philadelphia filming locations has been announced. Still, after years of false starts and mixed signals, hearing “it’s happening” directly from the director marks the clearest confirmation yet that Ben Gates’ next adventure is finally moving forward.