National Treasure producer Jerry Bruckheimer has offered some updates on the current stage of the franchise’s third installment, which has been in development limbo for the better part of 15 years.
While speaking with E! about the new Disney Plus series set in the National Treasure universe, Bruckheimer said that he and his team “were developing a National Treasure for the theaters with Nicolas Cage” at the time they approached Disney about the TV show. “Which we still are, so that’s ongoing,” he continued.
In April of this year, Cage seemingly dashed fans’ hopes for a third film when, in a Reddit “Ask me Anything” thread, he said it was probably not going to happen, since “the priority was to turn [the movies] into a TV show.” A few months later, in August, Bruckheimer flipped the switch and told ComicBook that they were working on the script and waiting on Cage’s approval.
This back and forth has doggedly followed the third film for years now, through changes in screenwriters and delays. Bruckheimer’s update sounds hopeful, but it also seems to indicate that the film hasn’t even been green-lit by Disney yet.
Cage could still show up in one of the upcoming episodes of the spin-off series, National Treasure: Edge of History, episodes for which will be released weekly until February. It wouldn’t be the first time producers and writers choose to keep a big star’s appearance a secret to increase its impact among fans. Although the show hasn’t been renewed for a second season, there are rumors swirling that Cage will be a part of it in the future.
The third movie’s connection with Edge of History is unclear, but fans will recall that 2007’s National Treasure: Book of Secrets set up a third film with a cliffhanger about the mysterious page 47 of the Book of Secrets.