The Declaration of Independence isn't the only difficult-to-obtain document that treasure hunters have been tracking down these past few years. It's been fifteen years since the second National Treasure film, and in that time there have been rumors and hopes of a third film, but still no actual movement towards the making of National Treasure 3. That is, until now. In an exclusive report to ComicBook.com, Jerry Bruckheimer confirmed that the script for the third film has, in fact, been written, and is awaiting series star Nicolas Cage's approval.

Bruckheimer broke the news in an interview regarding his newest film, Top Gun: Maverick. Regarding the script, "[l]et's hope we're working on the script right now. Hopefully [Cage] likes it, but it's really good. So I think we'll get it to him shortly."

The prospect of a third film in the franchise seemed nearly impossible in recent months, considering that the series is pivoting to a Disney+ streaming show. Cage didn't do much to give audiences hope of his return to the series, whether it be in film or streaming series. Cage was asked about the possibility of a third National Treasure film this April, during a Reddit AMA thread. His response was not hopeful, giving a plain "[n]o," and saying that "the priority was to turn it into a TV show so I would say probably not." But it looks like that has all changed.

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Producer Jason Reed also gave a number of reasons for why the third film never happened back in the day, saying, "What I felt happened is even though the movies were extremely successful and had a really strong fanbase, it’s a movie that gets brought up all the time, the company was never able to capitalize on it as a franchise. It was more of a movie with a sequel and National Treasure 3 would have been another sequel.”

Cage reflected on the long absence of the series after the second installment to GQ, saying that after National Treasure 2, "[t]he phone stopped ringing. It was like,'What do you mean we're not doing National Treasure 3? It's been 14 years, why not. Well, Sorcerer's Apprentice didn't work, and Ghost Rider didn't really sell tickets. And Drive Angry just came and went."

And though Cage has, to this point, rejected the idea of showing up in the upcoming series, the creators of the new show are still hopeful that he just might change his mind and return to the series. Production on the Disney+ series began earlier this year. Several of the original film series stars, including Justin Bartha as Riley Poole and Harvey Keitel as Peter Sadusky, are returning for the show.

Both National Treasure films are available to stream now on Disney+. Check out our interview with Bruckheimer and Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski below: