NATIONAL TREASURE director Jon Turteltaub just announced that NATIONAL TREASURE 3 is in the works.
“It’s happening,” Turteltaub said on the “National Treasure Hunt” podcast. “You’re the first people I have said this out loud to. I have not said anything before this, but you deserve to have the scoop.”
He wants as many of the original cast that he can get. He also joked that if lead actor Nicolas Cage gets “hit by a bus,” there probably won’t be a third movie.
He and Disney have approved the third movie’s script.
When the sequel movie came out in 2007, it left a question unanswered: a “life-altering” secret that Ben Gates saw in the Book of Secrets.
Turteltaub said it’s taken so many years to get a third movie because of America’s political climate. He doesn’t think they will be able to avoid politics altogether in the upcoming movie.
Related: NATIONAL TREASURE: THE BOOK OF SECRETS
“We have to be very careful, but I don’t feel we are allowed to ignore it,” Turteltaub said. “I think we have to include that idea in the story somehow without making someone feel put off.”
Film critic Christian Toto responded to Turteltaub’s comments.
“It sounds like Turteltaub, a veteran Hollywood director who isn’t known for his political views, was accurately assessing how Hollywood views patriotism and the political divide,” Toto said. “It’s actually a sad sign of the times — a franchise about US history is now seen as problematic or challenging, when it should be nothing of the kind.”
“A franchise like this would be best served staying apolitical, and the director’s comments suggest a way to thread the needle between acknowledging our political chasm and moving forward with a fresh new story,” he added. “…if that delicate balance works, it might be the biggest film in the franchise.”
The first NATIONAL TREASURE movie earned 4/4 stars from Movieguide®. It’s an exciting pro-family adventure movie that’s safe for the whole family to watch.
Part of Movieguide®’s review reads, “This is a movie in love with American ideals, and it wears that love openly. It honors the Founding Fathers, the Declaration of Independence, and the liberty it enshrines, alongside traditional family values, bravery, honor, patriotism, loyalty, and justice. It includes positive references to a historic Christian church in New York City and to the Temple Solomon built for Israel — small but genuine nods toward a biblical heritage most treasure-hunt movies wouldn’t bother with.”
Hopefully the threequel doesn’t take too long to produce. Fans have been waiting long enough.
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