The National Treasure movies are some of Nicolas Cage’s best works. Cage led the franchise to international acclaim, digging up treasures and secrets long buried. The first and second National Treasure movies brought in some serious money for the Studio. Even though the franchise saw success, a third National Treasure movie never happened. The adventures of Ben Gates ended abruptly with National Treasure: Book Of Secrets. There was still a lot of ground the franchise could have covered. National Treasure 3 is finally moving forward with producer Jerry Bruckheimer and writer Chris Bremner (Bad Boys For Life). But what made the franchise for making us wait for so long for the three-quel?
Turns out, the answer to that question lies with the Disney Parks.
The National Treasure franchise’s production executive Jason Reed tried his best to get National Treasure 3 out of development limbo. Considering the Sequel to the First Movie, National Treasure: Book Of Secrets, made around $460 Million at the Box Office, there was money to be made. Walt Disney knew the movie series has potential. Plans for another entry into the series were halted after the release of the sequel in 2007. The reason was simple – Disney was finding it difficult to capitalize on National Treasure the way they cashed in on movie franchises like Pirates of the Caribbean and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Jason Reed went on record to state this:
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They never figured out a way to integrate it into the parks. It never caught on, even though there were a lot of consumer products, it never caught on as an independent franchise. That makes the numbers look different. It makes it harder to make a company like Disney focus resources on something when they can go make Toy Story or buy a cruise ship. And if the company itself had been really excited about moving forward with it and thought they could blow it out, we would have found a way to make the deal.
The struggle to keep National Treasure 3 in the pipeline continued for years. The Walt Disney Company’s model revolves around milking their most successful movie franchises through other non-conventional streams. They rely on both merchandise sales as well as turning their movies into star attractions in Disney Theme Parks. Walt Disney was unable to move forward with merchandise plans for the movie series, especially its Disney Theme Park attractions. Reed claims internal politics may be involved. The Studio finally got the ball rolling this year. National Treasure 3 waited for a long time, way more than it should have.
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Jerry Bruckheimer and writer Chris Bremner, who shot to fame after the success of Bad Boys For Life, are coming for National Treasure 3. The movie series’ original cast which includes actors like Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger, and Justin Bartha will be returning for the three-quel. The franchise will also be entertaining a Disney+ TV Series based on a younger cast.
Chris Bremner is currently writing the script for Bad Boys 4. Nicolas Cage is busy shooting for The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, his next venture. National Treasure 3 still does not have a Director. The hit movie series is finally coming to the big screens after a period of more than ten years. Disney Parks being the reason for the movie not getting its third installment does sound like a very childish reason. Corporate Politics and Strategy can be a tricky business. Let’s hope the series faces no other unnecessary nuisances.
Source: CinemaBlend
