The Pop Culture Pundit

^{Wikimedia Commons/hextrust}

It’s always a good time to revisit National Treasure, and with its 20th anniversary being celebrated this year, now seems like a perfect time.

There will probably never be a third National Treasure movie. The fact that Cage himself said there would never be a third one probably puts the nails in the coffin. But there’s always hope and speculation from fans. National Treasure is one of those movie series that you look at and say, man, this could’ve been a great franchise! With the first movie itself being, well, a national treasure and the second one being just meh, I’m almost sure by the fifth one they would’ve gotten the formula right and it would’ve been just like The Fast and Furious franchise; by the ninth one you would have gotten Cage going to space in a horse-drawn wagon with a makeshift engine or something. 

ANYWAYS. For those unfamiliar, National Treasure stars the aforementioned Cage as the excellently named Benjamin Franklin Gates (the third best Nic Cage character name after Stanley Goodspeed in The Rock and Castor Troy in Face/Off), who essentially pulls an Ocean’s 11-style heist to steal the Declaration of Independence to find treasure (THE titular NATIONAL TREASURE) based on some invisible ink clues. Joining him for the ride is Dr. Abigail Hunt (Diane Kruger), Gates’ on/off girlfriend; Riley Poole (Justin Bartha), Gates’ best friend; and Gates’ dad, Patrick Henry Gates (Jon Voigt). Sean Bean plays the villainous Ian Howe, who is also after the treasure.

The second National Treasure, subtitled Book of Secrets, finds Gates proving his grandfather’s innocence in the plot to assassinate Lincoln while finding–you guessed it–MORE treasure. The fact of the matter is that National Treasure 3 would be simply incredible, and there are truly SO many possibilities. Nic Cage could stumble upon a plane of convicts who are raising hell! Nic Cage could re-discover the remnants of John Travolta’s career! Nic Cage could even go to Alcatraz…again! (Much like the plots of Con Air, Face/Off and The Rock, which are considered the Holy Trinity of Nicolas Cage action films).

Without further ado, here are a bunch of scenarios that could completely totally definitely work for National Treasure 3. I’m not saying you need to use this as inspiration, future screenwriter who has finally convinced Cage to do another…but if you happen to enjoy any of these ideas, please be sure to thank me in the credits. 

1. National Treasure: Oregon Trail

^{Wikimedia Commons/Anonymous}

While attempting to beat his best friend Riley Poole’s (Justin Bartha) high score on Oregon Trail, Benjamin Franklin Gates discovers an encrypted message within the game beckoning him to follow the real-life trail and find THE TREASURE that awaits him. Gates must re-assemble his team consisting of his dad Patrick Henry Gates (Jon Voigt), his on-and-off-girlfriend Dr. Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger), Riley, and new museum curator Dolly Madison Foster (Olivia Munn), who goes by Madison because she’s cool like that. Along the way, they face angry oxen, evil villains (the recurring Harvey Keitel and newbie played by Hugh Grant, a clueless traveler) and a nasty bout of dysentery. 

Tagline: Game on. 

2. National Treasure: Illuminati Confirmed

^{Wikimedia Commons/Anonymous}

While looking through the archives of the Library of Congress, Benjamin Franklin Gates discovers that the Triangle Factory Fire may have been an attack planned by the Illuminati (because in the mind of every film director who works on an American history film, triangle=illuminati conspiracy). Gates now must travel to Manhattan and work his way through clues left in Times Square, the Statue of Liberty and even on Good Morning America to get to the bottom of the conspiracy and find THE TREASURE–before the evil Dr. Samson (Christian Bale) can get it first. Expect an epic chase through the Statue of Liberty and intense battle on Times Square (and a trip to the National Ice Cream Museum, because why not). Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos and Michael Strahan will make cameo appearances. Ryan Seacrest is also just bumbling around on Times Square waiting for New Years Rockin’ Eve to begin. 

Tagline: Time to Defeat the Pyramid Scheme

3. National Treasure: Night at the Museum

^{Wikimedia Commons/L.vivian.richard}

The crossover that was bound to happen. Benjamin Franklin Gates and Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) both happen to be touring the Smithsonian Museum of American History when they get trapped overnight after the security system in the flag hall shuts down. Armed with nothing but intellect, Ben, Larry, Riley, Abigail, and tour guide Karla Briggs (newcomer to both franchises Janelle Monae), the gang must figure out how to escape–with a little help from the museum exhibits themselves, who come alive–and find the TREASURE. Owen Wilson and Amy Adams reprise their roles; Adam Driver takes on the role of Abraham Lincoln, Taraji P. Henson as Rosa Parks, and Serena Williams as herself. Kermit the Frog makes a cameo appearance. 

Tagline: History comes to life…again. 

4. National Treasure: Cryptic Currency 

^{Wikimedia Commons/Anonymous}

While vacationing in Las Vegas with his now-wife, Dr. Abigail Chase Gates (DC for the wedding, Vegas for the honeymoon for the “cross country experience”), Benjamin Franklin Gates stumbles upon some rare gold coins while playing blackjack at a casino (Tyrese Gibson from Fast and Furious fame plays the dealer). Knowing that this was a clue meant for them, Gates and Abigail, joined by obvious third wheel Riley Poole, embark on a journey filled with cryptic clues that will eventually lead them to the TREASURE. Gates and Abigail’s treasure hunting honeymoon isn’t all paradise though…especially when they run into old enemies (Paul Rudd, Regé-Jean Page and Anne Hathaway), who are hellbent on destroying their reputations and finally beating them to finding the NATIONAL TREASURE. Expect some crypto currency jokes thrown in for funsies. 

Tagline: Crypt-no. 

5. National Treasure: Tales of the Raven

^{Wikimedia Commons/Jacob van Maerlant}

While sifting through the National Archives, Benjamin Franklin Gates stumbles upon a series of old Edgar Allan Poe riddles–and finds clues written on the back of said riddles that lead to the TREASURE. Along with his trusty allies, including his dad, his wife, Riley and archivist Piper Inkblot (Chloe Fineman), the stakes have never been higher–especially with vigilante treasure seekers and villainous thieves (Lucy Liu and Miles Teller) on their tails. Feathers will be ruffled–and only one team will emerge victorious. 

Tagline: Edgar Allan Oh No.

6. National Treasure: Enigma

^{Wikimedia Commons/Farai Gandiya}

When there’s a massive power outage in Washington DC, Benjamin Franklin Gates and the gang must rely on old technology at their jobs. While writing messages on pieces of paper, Gates discovers a hidden code–and, realizing it’s a clue, must break into the NSA to find the old code-breaking machines used to decipher Enigma all the way back in WW2. Along with the usual suspects and newcomers Emma and Dave (Lauren Lapkus and Pedro Pascal), the team must break the new code before it’s too late. As usual, there are villainous villains who want to break the code first (Priyanka Chopra and Ben Schwartz)–because not only does the code contain government secrets, it holds the location of the TREASURE.

Tagline: To break the code, first you must break the rules. 

^{Note: All images used are in the public domain.}