National Treasure 3 Has a First Draft Script, Treats Television Series as Canon

A first draft script for National Treasure 3 is finished.

Following the financial success of 2004’s National Treasure and 2007’s National Treasure: Book of Secrets, The Walt Disney Company has been trying to get National Treasure 3 off the ground for some time.

Appearing on the National Treasure Hunt podcast, via ScreenRant, writer Ted Elliot said that he’s now finished a draft for National Treasure 3, though it still needs rewrites.

What did Ted Elliot say about National Treasure 3?

Elliot said of the draft, “Riley has changed more [than anyone]. If you just look at the two points that are established for him in the first and second movies. In the first one, he is the uninformed audience. That’s the role he plays. He’s the guy who says, ‘What are you talking about there?’ In the second one, he’s written a book about cryptohistory. And he’s right! He knows something Ben didn’t know about history. I just have to think that that’s continued. It becomes more difficult to do the history exposition because there are things [Riley] can know now.”

He continued, “In terms of writing the third movie, there is, I think, a change to Ben and Riley’s inner relationship that I think both actors will really enjoy.”

Elliot also said that the events of National Treasure: Edge of History, the Disney+ series that was canceled in April 2023 after one season, would be canon to the new film.

“Agent Sudusky is dead,” he explained. “I’m treating the TV series as canon. I’m trying to do something different with the FBI than was done in the previous two movies. There’s still the pursuers, there’s still the force for law and order, but just the way they operate I’m trying to do something just a little bit different.”

National Treasure, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, and National Treasure: Edge of History are all currently streaming on Disney+.