Under most circumstances, fans would be thrilled at brand new National Treasure content, but it’s safe to say a lot of folks would rather see a third installment focusing on Nicolas Cage solving another implausible mystery as opposed to an unconnected and unrelated story with a brand new cast.
The long-awaited third entry in the film series was confirmed to be in development in January of last year, but we’ve heard absolutely nothing about the project for over eighteen months, while the Disney Plus series has been gaining more and more momentum despite being announced long after National Treasure 3.
Academy Award nominated filmmaker Mira Nair is set to direct the ten-episode first season, which follows a character named Jessica Morales, a 20 year-old who’s part of the DREAMer movement tackling immigration, education and citizenship issues. Jessica sets off to unravel her family history, and ends up drawn into a search for lost historical treasure.
Disney Plus’ National Treasure has now taken another significant step forward with the addition of Maura Milan as the lead writer. She’s written and directed several short films, but a big budget Mouse House project based on a recognizable and popular IP is the biggest gig of her Hollywood career by far.
National Treasure and sequel Book of Secrets are held in high regard by audiences for offering a pair of light, fun, frothy and breezy adventures propelled by Cage’s star power. Whether or not a streaming series without the franchise’s main selling point will succeed is anybody’s guess, but we’ll have to make do until the third big screen outing manages to make any significant headway, if it even does at all given that it’s been fourteen years since the last one.