After prowling the streets of 1933 New York City as a hard-boiled investigator, Nicolas Cage seems to have decided that solving mysteries is no longer just a job, but a full-time career. Just when his latest detective chapter had audiences hooked, the Oscar winner is now circling another long-awaited treasure hunt that could send him chasing clues all over again. And this time, the mystery has been nearly two decades in the making.

Cage may have cracked his next case, and it could finally unlock the adventure fans have been waiting years to see.

Nicolas Cage is finally picking up the clues again

During Philadelphia’s first National Treasure Weekend, director Jon Turteltaub confirmed that the long-awaited National Treasure 3 is finally set to return with Nicolas Cage. Speaking during a live recording of the National Treasure Hunt podcast, Turteltaub told hosts Aubrey Paris and Emily Black that the project “is happening” and revealed that they were the first people he had told publicly. He later summed up the long-awaited breakthrough by calling it “finally real,” while joking that in Hollywood, anything can still happen.

“I have not said anything before this, but you deserve to have the scoop. It’s finally real. Now, it’s Hollywood real, meaning things could happen. Nic gets hit by a bus, there’s no National Treasure 3. If I get hit by a bus, there’s probably a National Treasure 3. Welcome to Hollywood.” Turteltaub told Paris and Black.

Adding to the revelation, Turteltaub said he and Disney have a script they like and that, “to whatever extent we can, everyone’s back” from the original National Treasure cast, including Cage. The director did not reveal a release date or plot details, meaning the biggest pieces of the treasure hunt are still locked away. For now, however, Benjamin Franklin Gates appears to be getting another chance to crack a mystery nearly 20 years after the last movie.

And while the treasure hunter is finally returning, Cage himself has hardly been sitting still during the wait.

Nicolas Cage’s wild 2026 comeback continues

Nicolas Cage’s 2026 slate has already marked a major new chapter for the Oscar-winning actor, led by his live-action streaming role as Ben Reilly in Spider-Noir. He is also heading into production on Parish, a post-apocalyptic action thriller from Adam Sigal, in which he plays a hardened survivor defending his compound from a vicious group of cannibals. Filming is scheduled to begin in Minnesota in October.

The actor is also attached to Gambino, a crime biopic reuniting him with Face/Off director John Woo, with Cage set to portray notorious mob boss Carlo Gambino. With National Treasure 3 now apparently moving closer to reality, Cage’s already unpredictable 2026 career is adding yet another wildly different adventure to the mix.

After years of dead ends, rewrites, and near-misses, the National Treasure franchise may finally have found its way back to the screen. And if Jon Turteltaub’s latest revelation holds, Nicolas Cage’s Benjamin Gates is about to pick up the clues once again.

Are you excited to see Nicolas Cage return for National Treasure 3? Let us know in the comments.