‘How to Lose’ that ‘National Treasure’: Two Twenty-Something Films Announce Sequels in the Works


Still looking for a rare and priceless governmental artifact? Or do you need more tips on how to rid yourself of a troublesome dude in under a fortnight? Two upcoming sequels to early 2000s movies have you covered.
National Treasure, the Nicolas Cage movie which saw him pilfering the Declaration of Independence (for a good cause), will add a third film to the franchise. So said Jon Turteltaub, the director of both the 2004 original and the 2007 sequel, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, at a live taping of the National Treasure Hunt podcast last Friday.
Though rumors of a third film in the series have been bandied about for years, it’s now been confirmed. Well, sort of.
“It’s happening,” Turteltaub told the crowd, before qualifying that statement, saying, “Now, it’s ‘Hollywood real,’ meaning things could happen. Nic [Cage] 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 went on to say that he finally has a script that he likes, and that Cage would return as Benjamin Franklin Gates, a historian and cryptologist who follows a treasure map on the back of the United States Declaration of Independence in the original film, which also starred Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, and Sean Bean. No other cast names, returning or otherwise, were listed for the sequel.
In other sequel news, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days is now in development at Paramount Pictures for its first sequel since the original came out in 2003, according to Deadline, which cites a source close to the project.
Kate Hudson, who starred alongside Matthew McConaughey in the classic rom-com about a magazine writer and ad exec who get in a relationship to prove a point, will produce the sequel, alongside Stacey Sher.
Hudson played magazine writer Andie Anderson and McConaughey starred as ad executive Benjamin Barry; they get together because she wants to drive him away for a story, while he makes a bet that he can make her fall in love with him in 10 days. It will shock you to learn (spoiler!) that their schemes go awry they each catch real feelings.
Donald Petrie directed the film, which also starred Kathryn Hahn, Adam Goldberg, Annie Parisse, and Thomas Lennon. The proposed sequel is in the drawing-board stages at the studio, so though the plan is to have Hudson and McConaughey reprise their roles, no deals have been signed or announced yet. There’s no script and no other casting announcements, nor is there a title.


