Just barely 60, Nicolas Cage may actually be nearing retirement, saying he only has a handful of movies left in him. And according to the Oscar winner, National Treasure 3 will not be one of them, throwing shade at Disney, saying there was no treasure to be found at the studio. With that, that might be the nail in the coffin of a National Treasure 3, as now mega-producer Jerry Bruckheimer is saying a third installment won’t go forward without Cage’s involvement.

Bruckheimer recently told MovieWeb that he personally has hopes for a threequel but it all falls on Cage. “Well, we hope there’s a National Treasure 3. We’ve been working on it for quite a while. We have a brilliant writer working on it right now, so hopefully, if we get a script in a timely fashion, we’ll send it to Nic [Cage] and, if he likes it, we’ll make another one. We certainly would like to.” And so that seems like the true end of National Treasure 3, which fans of the first two have been clamoring for ever since Book of Secrets came out 17 years ago. Instead, we got stuck with a lame Disney+ series that got canceled after one season.

Nicolas Cage had previously expressed bewilderment that National Treasure 3 made it to the big screen. After all, the first movies collectively grossed $788 million worldwide, making them two of Cage’s biggest hits. As recently as January of this year, Cage did seem to hint at a possible interest in returning as Benjamin Franklin Gates, saying, “I’m still kind of amazed that Disney hasn’t wanted to make a third one. I thought the movies brought a lot of joy to the public, and it’s certainly interesting about history, and I think all of that is worthwhile filmmaking.” So it’s a bit confusing – and disappointing – that Cage has evidently walked this back, apparently not finding National Treasure 3 “worthwhile” enough to work into his last run of films. Fine, then we’ll just take a proper Face/Off sequel and drop it!

The National Treasure movies seemed so silly at the time – and, OK, still are – but they remain a lot of fun, showcasing Cage at his peak of family-friendly entertainment. Do you think National Treasure 3 is permanently done for? Or do you think Cage could be roped in for one more installment?

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