In March, Disney finally gave an update on the third entry to the beloved National Treasure series, which has been in development hell for years. The studio is pressing on with the long-awaited third movie in the series, which follows Benjamin Franklins Gates, one of Nicolas Cage’s best roles.

  • National Treasure 3 is now closer than ever, considering the Disney+ show, Edge of History, is heading to the streaming service soon. There are hopes that the series will lead straight into the upcoming sequel movie, as the franchise is brought back in a unique way. There are more reasons to be excited for National Treasure 3 than ever!

Fans have been waiting for the movie for a whole 14 years, ever since the release of National Treasure: The Book of Secrets in 2007, and though he’s taken to horror movies like a duck to water in recent years, Cage will finally be returning to the family-friendly series soon. There’s a lot to be excited for even, despite fans not knowing much about the upcoming movie National Treasure 3.

Returning To Characters

It’s always an exciting prospect to return to an established franchise and see some of the characters that audiences had previously fallen in love with. Throughout the National Treasure saga, fans got to know this crack team of treasure-hunting investigators. Those audience members want to know where the characters are now.

Ben and Abigail’s romance might have come to an end again. Riley could have a range of new books on sale. Who’s to say where the rest of the supporting cast are? Revisiting this world in National Treasure 3 is an exciting prospect for those wanting some closure on their favorite characters.

Bringing Back Disney Live-Action

The live-action departments of Walt Disney Studios haven’t been what they once were. While the animation departments are working in full form, and other studios like Marvel, Lucasfilm and PIXAR continue to produce great movies and TV shows, Disney seems mostly content to produce live-action iterations of their animated hits.

However, Jungle Cruise was a slight indication about Disney expanding on the big screen again and a return to Benjamin Franklin’s intelligent team in National Treasure 3, would only confirm that Disney is prepared to explore new live-action narratives. That’s an exciting prospect when looking across the previous franchises they’ve launched.

Nostalgia For A Generation

Those who originally enjoyed National Treasure will have a certain nostalgia for the series. It has been over a decade since the previous installment was released. That’s a lot of time to build up a further fan base, with younger viewers at the time, now in a very different stage of their life.

That’s really significant for building up the hype for a project, as nostalgia is a powerful thing. There’s definitely an element of fan service that might play into the third entry twisting on various theories, but more importantly, an understanding to try and match the tone of the originals while innovating more to put a spin on that nostalgia.

Treasures And Conspiracies

It seems silly to suggest, but one of the best things about the National Treasure franchise is the treasure itself. There is something quite exciting about watching these hunters track down lost artifacts, dig into the history of the United States, and uncover various conspiracies.

While the type of adventure itself will be touched on further, the historical significance of the treasure that will be uncovered and just getting to see some of those lost secrets plays into all the best elements of the genre, which audiences love so much.

A Modernized Take

It has been 15 years since that second film, and 18 years since the very first National Treasure movie, as of this writing. National Treasure 3 might be on the way, but that time gap is only going to be further extended. A lot has changed in the filmmaking business since that time.

There are new technologies, innovations in the storytelling process, and different conspiracies that interest audiences. National Treasure 3 provides an opportunity to tell these stories in a modern way, updating the formula to appeal to a new range of viewers while still paying homage to the originals.

The Uncharted Influence

It’s obvious that National Treasure wears its influences on its sleeve, as the whole notion of Benjamin Franklin Gates wouldn’t have ever been possible if it wasn’t for Indiana Jones.

However, since the last National Treasure movie, the Uncharted video-game series has become massively influential to not just video games but movies too. And as Uncharted follows Nathan Drake, who is also a treasure hunter that trots across the globe and fights armies of pirates, it’ll be exciting to see how much of an influence the games will have on the direction of the upcoming third movie.

The Length Of Time That Has Passed

There was only a gap of three years between the first two National Treasure movies, but now that 14 years have passed, everything’s going to be a lot different, as all of the characters are going to be in totally different places in their lives.

It’ll be completely new from the more run-of-the-mill adventures that came in the first two, especially considering how The Book of Secrets didn’t exactly change up the formula of the first movie in any way.

The Soundtrack

The National Treasure series shouldn’t have a soundtrack as good as it does. Being a somewhat inferior but still fun version of Indiana Jones, the movie has a musical score with surprisingly breathtaking orchestral swells that are just as hair-raising as the trumpets and trombones of the Indy theme.

In the eyes of many fans, it’s just as iconic as anything done by John Williams or Han Zimmer. The music was surprisingly scored by Trevor Rabin, the guitarist of the rock band, Yes, but even if Rabin doesn’t return, a new composer could put a refreshing twist on the classic music.

The Adventure

Over time, there have been many rumors swirling regarding the plot of the third National Treasure movie, and it’s no secret that there have been many different scripts for the heavily anticipated movie. When it comes to what the third movie will actually be about, the ideas that have been thrown around range from outright brilliant to typically bizarre considering it’s a project involving the one and only Nicolas Cage.

In the past, there have been rumblings about it following Cage searching for the lost city of Atlantis, and even the fountain of youth. However, the latter was used to mixed results in another Disney movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, so it’s unlikely that it’ll appear in National Treasure too.

Finding Out What’s On Page 47

With so many possibilities surrounding the plot of the movie, whatever it ends up being, it almost has to feature the contents of page 47 of The President’s Book. What was on Page 47 was a big cliffhanger at the end of The Book of Secrets, and one of the reasons why fans want a sequel so bad is to find out just what Gates saw when he read it.

This could also be why it has been so tough to write the third movie, as it’s going to be hard to write a satisfying resolution to the cliffhanger, especially considering that Gates stated that what was on the page was truly life-changing.

More Prospective Sequels

It’s a wonder why it’s taken this long to get a third movie, as the first movie made almost $360 million worldwide, and the follow-up made a mind-boggling $450 million. So it’s a massively lucrative franchise that Disney has seemingly been sitting on for no clear reason.

However, that’s all about to change, as the third movie could lead to even more sequels. And as one of the rumors of why a third movie was struggling to get off the ground was because an idea couldn’t be settled on, there’s a whole well of concepts for loads of sequels.

Could Go Straight To Disney+

As Warner Bros. released its entire slate of movies in 2021 on HBO Max alongside their theatrical releases, and Disney+ is throwing movies straight onto Disney+ without a theatrical release, it has divided cinephiles into two camps.

Though there are Disney shows still not available on Disney+, the company is working hard to fill the service with new content, whether its shows set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe or mind-bending Pixar movies. And though there are many people that would prefer to go to a movie theater, the prospect of watching the movie in the comfort of their own homes is an exciting one.

A New Villain

As great, schlocky fun as the National Treasure series is, it has always left something to be desired when it comes to the villains. In the first movie, the villain is Ian Howe, a financier with about as much personality as a spoon. In the second movie, the antagonist is Mitch Wilkinson, who is another wet blanket.

And even though National Treasure’s biggest influence, the Indiana Jones series, also has financiers as villains who get other people to do their bidding for them, they at least have character. The third entry into the series could right this wrong by adding some sense of stakes, and by giving an antagonist some character and weight to the overall adventure.

The Connection To A Bigger Universe?

Along with the confirmation that National Treasure 3 has officially been put into production, Disney also surprised fans with the fact that they will be producing a Disney+ series of the franchise too. Whether it’s an adaptation or a spin-off set in the same world is completely unknown, but it has a completely different cast to the series.

It will feature the new lead character Jess Morales and hopefully, it won’t be a hard reboot, but instead feature connections to the movies, and maybe eventually fans will even have a fully-fledged National Treasure Cinematic Universe.

Nicolas Cage’s Return As Benjamin Franklin Gates

Being the fascinating actor that he is, whether he’s starring in meta movies as himself or explaining the history of swear words in Netflix shows, it’s always interesting to see what Nicolas Cage does next.

However, though he might not have the best track record, one of his most beloved roles is as Benjamin Franklin Gates in the treasure hunting series, and his return to the role after so many years is by far the most exciting thing about the movie. And not only Cage but the whole cast too, as it’s easy to forget the incredible talent that supported Cage in the first two movies, including Harvey Keitel and Diane Kruger.