Jon Turteltaub Explains Why National Treasure 3 Hasn’t Happened

Director Jon Turteltaub (The Meg) recently spoke with Collider and talked about why a third National Treasure film hasn’t happened yet. Apparently, the hold up is Disney not wanting to commit the money to a third film. Below are some highlights from the interview.

On Why a Sequel Hasn’t Happened Yet: “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.”

On Disney’s Decision to Not Make a Third Film: “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.”

National Treasure, starring Nicolas Cage and Diane Kruger, was released in 2004 and earned $347.5 million at the worldwide box office. The sequel, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, made an additional $457.3 million worldwide in 2007.