National Treasure 3: Will It Actually Happen? My Thoughts!
It has been almost 20 years since National Treasure: Book of Secrets hit theaters. Ever since, fans have wondered whether we will ever get a third film. There have been countless updates and rumors about a film happening. Well, recently Jon Turteltaub, the director of the past films, said a script is written and Nicolas Cage is likely to return. I have some thoughts on this, so let us talk about it!
My Thoughts
So, if you do not know, I really like both National Treasure movies. The 2004 original is better because it feels fresher. But both are solid adventure films, and I think the idea of a third film can work because there’s so much American history to pull from. It seems like a third film has been in the works for a long time. Nicolas Cage’s career over the past 15 years has not been great and a lot of people were saying that Cage needed a big check and that doing a third National Treasure film would give him just that. The idea of a third National Treasure film happening sounds good to me, I am excited and I hope it is good. With that, I am excited for the idea of it and want more adventures with these characters in this world. I also do have a few concerns that limit how high my excitement for this movie is.
The big question mark I have had related to this film for a while is, will it work? I do not mean that in terms of me questioning the script of the creative team. I mean that in the sense of thinking about the current political climate. I do not really want to get into the politics of what is going on, but you already know what is going on. Because of that, there is so much uncertainty, and a lot of countries are not happy with the United States of America right now. Is doing a movie about American history and being very pro-American and unashamedly a patriotic movie a good idea? Right now, I do not know if it is. I do not know if Hollywood should prioritize what movies they do and do not make based on the current political climate, if they had the level of thinking then the number of movies we get every year would go down a lot. But I think the script and the creative team need to be aware that the movies they made in 2004 and 2007, are not the same movie they can make in 2026. That is the big question mark I have and I hope they find a way to make a script that is touching on the modern political climate while still having the escapist fun that this franchise is known for.
When this movie got some traction in the last couple of days, I retweeted a post and said a briefer version of what I just said. Movie critic YouTuber Sean Chandler retweeted the same post I did. I responded with that statement and what he said was the TV show from 2022 balanced it out. When he said that, it reminded me that we did get a National Treasure TV show. I watched the entire thing and did not really like it. But that show was more of an international adventure. It was not NATIONAL Treasure; it was INTERNATIONAL Treasure. They did so to avoid the criticisms and concerns that I listed. But because it was focused more on a global level and going to different countries, it meant that it lost the patriotic charm of the movies. That is why it is hard to continue the National Treasure franchise in 2026. If you lean into the full-on “ah shucks” patriotism of the movies, it could play weird in 2026 but if you tell the story on an international level, then it’s not National Treasure and it feels like something inspired by National Treasure while not being a continuation of National Treasure.
We will see if any kind of traction gets made on this movie, like I said, there have been reports, rumors, and statements by Jerry Bruckheimer for years about a third filming happening. If they officially announce the film with a script, the cast, and the director then I will get excited. But I will be excited for the film while also having several concerns and some that might remain until we see a trailer or the movie itself.
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