Longtime Disney producer Jason Reed offers his perspective on why National Treasure 3 never came to fruition. Director Jon Turtle’s National Treasure was a commercial success when it debuted in 2004. Despite being called improbable, yet fun by critics, the historical adventure film, starring Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, Harvey Keitel, Sean Bean, and Jon Voight, landed with mainstream audiences. In conjunction with 2007’s National Treasure: Book of Secrets, the franchise has earned over $800 million at the box office.
Given the success of the first two films, a National Treasure 3 appeared to be a given. That said, Turtle and producer Jerry Bruckheimer have teased a third film as far back as 2008. In the years that followed, another installment always appeared to be a possibility. However, nothing has manifested itself since. This could be due to the collapse of Bruckheimer’s lucrative relationship with Disney (following box office bombs like The Lone Ranger) or the simple lack of a story/vision.
Reed, who was the Production Executive at Disney for the National Treasure films, opened up to Collider about why he thinks National Treasure 3 never got made. Reed fought to get another made but it just wasn't something the studio was interested in. In recent years, Disney’s focus has shifted to gargantuan franchises/universes as opposed to the more standalone experience:
“What I felt happened is even though the movies were extremely successful and had a really strong fanbase, it’s a movie that gets brought up all the time, the company was never able to capitalize on it as a franchise. It was more of a movie with a sequel and National Treasure 3 would have been another sequel."
Reed also talked about how Disney never figured out how to integrate the brand into their parks, which further diluted enthusiasm. As an independent franchise, National Treasure paled in comparison to marketing behemoths like Toy Story, Pirates of the Caribbean, or Star Wars. Had the numbers provoked the right amount of excitement, National Treasure 3 certainly would’ve been made; however, given Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm, Fox, and the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe, their number of more lucrative options almost seems limitless.
Now, National Treasure 3 is supposedly being written by Chris Bremner (Bad Boys for Life) and Bruckheimer is still working on ideas; in this golden age of television, a National Treasure spinoff series is set for Disney+. In the same way that streaming has opened the door for smaller films/projects, it may revive the National Treasure franchise. Even though National Treasure is anything but an independent film, compared to some of Disney's other endeavors, it might as well be. Whether Cage's Benjamin Franklin Gates appears in the spinoff series remains to be seen. Regardless, even after 13 years, fans are still hoping to see him in another feature.
Source: Collider