Report: ‘National Treasure 3’ is officially in the works

A third “National Treasure” film is reportedly in the works, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

What’s going on: Chris Bremner — writer for “Bad Boys for Life” — is reportedly working on “National Treasure 3” for Disney. Bremner is working with Jerry Bruckheimer on the project.

Why it matters: The “National Treasure” franchise produced two films in the early 2000s. The second film “National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets” ended with the characters looking into “page 47” of a secret book owned by the President of the United States. No explanation for the “page 47” was ever given.

Numbers: The first “National Treasure” earned $347 million in 2004. The sequel secured $457 million in 2007.

History: In 2018, Jon Turteltaub, who directed the “National Treasure” films, told Collider that Disney had too many movies in the pipeline so “National Treasure 3” got pushed back.

• Turteltaub: “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.’”
• Turteltaub: “The script was close, but not so great that the studio couldn’t say yes,” he said, adding that it was “good enough” for the studio to approve it. Still, they were never given the green light.

Reaction: Social media celebrated the return of the franchise.