Despite Nicolas Cage’s vehement remarks about not being game for a National Treasure 3, director Jon Turteltaub is confident the project is happening, with the original cast along for the ride. Speaking with the National Treasure Hunt podcast, Turteltaub said he’s “100%” confident the sequel could happen with the original cast intact, including Cage, but they’ll need to act fast to get it made.

“100%. … We do have to hurry because people are both getting older and less interested and lives are changing and all that. And the world changes,” Turteltaub explained to the National Treasure Hunt podcast. “Our culture is changing. A lot. Since the first movie was made. Socially, certainly politically, and definitely, our language, and different cultural changes we’ve had. And you’ve got to make sure you’re in touch with all that and moving with it, and doing things the right way. … It’s not as easy to just do another one. You’ve got to take a lot into account. I can tell you, 20 years later Justin Bartha is a lot better looking.“

National Treasure harkens back to a cinematic era when action-adventure films were in style, with Pirates of the Caribbean, The Mummy, and The Legend of Zorro delighting audiences with family-friendly fun and light-hearted comedy. The first of two films in the National Treasure series banked $347 million on a budget of $100 million, exceeding expectations and then some. National Treasure: Book of Secrets followed in 2007, grossing $459 million, blowing the first total out of the water. National Treasure returned in 2022 with National Treasure: Edge of History, a series starring Lisette Olivera as a 20-year-old Dreamer exploring the mystery of her family’s history. The Disney+ series lasted for one season before getting canceled.

Turteltaub’s comment about Cage being game to return to the National Treasure franchise is strange, considering the actor’s reaction to being asked about starring in a third chapter of the series. Speaking with Screen Rant in March, an upset Cage said, “Here we go! See, you’re the one that brings these things up and they go out and they eclipse everything else. No, there is no National Treasure 3. If you want to find treasure, don’t look at Disney, okay? It’s not there.“

Do you think Turteltaub’s comments about National Treasure 3 hold water? Is it too late to recapture the magic that made the first two films so popular? Will Cage bend the knee and return for a threequel regardless of his comments? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

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