NATIONAL TREASURE Director Explains Why A Third Film Hasn’t Happened

It’s been over 10 years since National Treasure got its first sequel and fans have been wondering why Disney still have been wondering why a third movie hasn’t moved forward despite the box office success of the the second film. Speaking with Collider, Jon Turteltaub, the director of the first two films, tries to explain why National Treasure 3 still hasn’t been greenlit despite Disney President Bob Iger did say back in 2016 that a third movie for Nicolas Cage led adventure heist film series could still happen.

When National Treasure first got made, there was a lot more money to go around. Everybody got paid nicely. The problem with getting the third one made isn’t the people who are getting paid saying, ‘I’m not doing it unless you pay me a lot!’ It’s really that Disney feels they have other films they want to make that they think will make them more money. I think they’re wrong. I think they’re right about the movies they’re making; they’re obviously doing a really good job at making great films. I just think this would be one of them, and they don’t quite realize how much the Internet is begging for a third National Treasure.

Disney putting National Treasure 3 in the back end of its list of priorities doesn’t seem like a surprise. The studio has been successful with Pixar, WDAS, their live-action remakes, Marvel, and Lucasfilm properties. Disney has had a successful 2018 so far grossing over $4 billion at the worldwide box office, and the studio still has Christopher Robin, Ralph Breaks The Internet, Nutcracker and the Four Realms, and Mary Poppins Returns all releasing within the next 5 months.