NationalTreasure3 Tagged Articles at Cinematical

At Disney's D23 they kept the movie surprises coming for nearly two hours, announcing a slew of new information about their upcoming slate of films for the next couple of years, and they trotted out John Travolta, Robert Zemeckis, Jerry Bruckheimer, Nic Cage, Miley Cyrus, and ... Johnny Depp in full costume as Captain Jack Sparrow. Yes, we're not kidding, and boy do I hate the "no cameras in the arena" rule that Disney busted on us. Of all the things to miss a photo of.

So yes, Pirates 4 is coming out in Summer 2011. That's probably the biggest news. What else did they announce? Check it out below ...

• Disney's The Princess and The Frog will be screened at the Disney Studio in Burbank, which is being opened to the public for the first time ever, from November 25th through December 13th.
• The new Muppets movie will be called The Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever Made. Interestingly, this is the same title as a concept for a Muppet film that Jim Henson, Jerry Juhl and Frank Oz had back in 1985. It was revived in 2000 by Frank Oz, but died in development hell. We're assuming this is the new Jason Segel Muppet project.
• Disney is remaking The Beatles' Yellow Submarine as a 3D film, complete with new motion capture and the original songs from the soundtrack, directed by Robert Zemeckis.
• Disney's Pirates 4 will be called Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and will be released in Summer 2011. Depp came out as Jack Sparrow, and asked if anyone had seen a talking frog. Well, stranger things have happened.
• We should also point out (thanks to commenter Dan) that On Stranger Tides is the name of a Pirate-related book by Tim Powers. Is Disney adapting the book for the fourth movie? Did they swipe the title? What's the connection there, because there definitely has to be a connection.
  

Cinematical had a chance to chat up Jerry Bruckheimer earlier today while in London visiting the set of a really big Disney film that we can't talk much about ... yet. However, while there our small group of dedicated online writers pressed The Bruck on his upcoming projects -- most notably Pirates of the Caribbean 4, The Lone Ranger, and National Treasure 3.

Regarding National Treasure 3 and Pirates 4 (which he says is eying a 2012 release as of right now), those scripts are being worked on as we speak. Of course IMAX and 3-D technology was part of the discussion, and it was not ruled out. Says Bruck, "Absolutely. I'd love to do it, so let's just see if we can work it through the production schedule with everything else." Additionally, while Johnny Depp has officially signed on to star in The Lone Ranger as Tonto, rumors George Clooney snagged the lead role as The Lone Ranger were quickly dismissed by Bruckheimer: "We haven't decided who is going to play the Lone Ranger yet. Get a director first and then figure it out." We'll have so much more from London and from this "really giganto Disney film" at a later date. (And trust me, you will definitely want to read that story.)

According to Jim Hill Media, Disney registered the following domain names just the other day: NationalTreasure3DVD.com and NationalTreasure4DVD.com. This means that, yes, most likely plans are already underway to shovel out two more National Treasure sequels. A third installment was already set up at the end of National Treasure: Book of Secrets, and now that the film has grossed over $200 million, another Nicolas Cage adventure is all but certain. But when, and what will it be about?

Well, Jim Hill says the sequel probably won't hit theaters until Christmas 2010, and in the meantime -- in order to keep the property fresh in people's minds -- Disney will release a bunch of National Treasure-themed children's books; the first of which (Changing Tides, a Gates Family Mystery) already arrived in bookstores back in November. Additionally, there are also some minor rumblings that Disney will also create a theme park ride geared around the franchise. Though a script cannot be written until the writer's strike is over, a top secret plot description is making the rounds -- but keep in mind this might (and most probably will) change. Possible spoiler warning ahead ...

Hill says, the third film will "send the Gates family off to Easter Island and beyond in search of Atlantis. More importantly, the pure, clean power source that was supposedly lost forever when this ancient civilization sank beneath the sea. Which -- were it to be harnessed today -- would immediately put an end to global warming. Not to mention making gas & oil obsolete." Are you a fan of the franchise? Where would you like to see the Gates Family travel next? (And if I asked Weinberg that question, he'd probably say direct to DVD.)

[via Slashfilm]