Nicolas Cage Is FINALLY Coming Back To Steal More Stuff In National Treasure 3 — And We Are SO Ready 🗺️

Stop what you're doing, because the news we've ALL been waiting for just dropped — and it's GLORIOUS.

National Treasure 3 is officially happening. Yes, really. And Nicolas Cage is coming back to do what he does best: steal historically significant documents while looking both unhinged and deeply serious about American history.

"It's Finally Real"

Director Jon Turteltaub made the announcement during a live recording of the "National Treasure Hunt" podcast in Philadelphia on Friday night, telling the audience they were "the first people I have said this out loud to."

"I was thinking about mentioning this tonight, I'll say it tonight," Turteltaub revealed, according to Variety. "It's happening. It's finally real."

But this being Hollywood, the director had to add a very on-brand disclaimer. "Now, it's 'Hollywood real,' meaning things can happen," he explained. "Nic gets hit by a bus, there's no National Treasure 3. If I get hit by a bus, there's probably a National Treasure 3. Welcome to Hollywood, that's Hollywood."

We are NOT okay with this chaos energy, but we'll take it! 😭

The Tea ☕

Here's everything you need to know:

• The script is DONE and Disney has already approved it, saying it "sounds like a movie we can make"
• Nicolas Cage is returning as treasure hunter Ben Gates
• Director Jon Turteltaub (who helmed both 2004's National Treasure and 2007's Book of Secrets) is back
• Producer Jerry Bruckheimer has given his "blessing" to the script
• "To whatever extent we can, everyone's back," Turteltaub promised

Why This Matters So Much

Listen, we've been waiting for this since 2007. The National Treasure franchise absolutely DOMINATED the box office — the first film made $347 million worldwide, and the sequel exploded to $459 million. According to E! Online, these movies defined a generation of people who genuinely believed stealing the Declaration of Independence was a viable career path.

The original film followed historian Ben Gates (Cage) and Dr. Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger) as they raced to steal the Declaration of Independence — which, plot twist, is actually a map to a secret Freemason treasure. The cast also included Justin Bartha as tech whiz Riley Poole, plus Jon Voight and Harvey Keitel.

And that Book of Secrets cliffhanger? When the President (Bruce Greenwood) tells Ben about the mysterious page 47? We've been losing sleep over that for nearly TWO DECADES.

But What About Edge of History?

Disney+ tried to give us a National Treasure TV series in 2022 called "Edge of History," but it only lasted one season and honestly, it wasn't the same. We needed the chaotic energy of Nicolas Cage sprinting through the National Archives, not a spinoff.

Even producer Jerry Bruckheimer confirmed back in 2022 that they were still developing the theatrical version with Cage. Deadline reports that Bruckheimer told them, "We said we'd like to make another National Treasure and they said, 'Sure, let's come up with a new cast.' At the same time, we were developing National Treasure for the theaters with Nicolas Cage—which we still are."

Well, "still are" just became "IT'S HAPPENING."

The Internet Is LOSING IT

Fans are already spiraling in the best way possible. One commenter on the podcast's announcement wrote, "Best news of the last 10 years," while another pleaded, "Just hope it follows the OG team and doesn't try to incorporate a younger team for the sake of setting up future installments."

Honestly? Same. We want Ben, Riley, and Abigail back on screen doing unhinged history nerd things, not a bunch of Gen Z treasure hunters with TikTok accounts.

The fact that Disney greenlit this after all these years tells us everything we need to know: nostalgia is powerful, and people are HUNGRY for fun adventure movies that don't take themselves too seriously.

What's Next?

While Turteltaub didn't reveal a release date or any plot details (rude), the fact that there's an approved script means this could actually move into production relatively soon. And considering both Variety and E! Online confirmed reps for Disney and Nicolas Cage haven't commented yet, we're taking this as our cue to start manifesting a 2027 or 2028 release.

In the meantime, we'll be rewatching the first two films and googling "how to become a treasure hunter" for the millionth time.

Are you ready for Ben Gates to return, or are you READY? Sound off below! 🗺️✨

Sources:

• Variety
• E! Online
• Deadline