In recent years mega-producer Jerry Bruckheimer has been dipping into his old bag of tricks. He helped produce a new Bad Boys and the upcoming new Top Gun, a new Beverly Hills Cop is probably on the way, and next up is National Treasure.
Speaking to Collider, the iconic producer confirmed that the treasure hunting franchise starring Nicolas Cage will be coming back in two ways. The first one we knew about, in the form of a third big-screen adventure with Cage and the original cast. The other will be a related spin-off series with a younger cast for Disney+. A source close to the projects confirmed the news to Gizmodo.
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“We’re certainly working on one for streaming and we’re working on one for the big screen,” Bruckheimer said of the franchise. “Hopefully, they’ll both come together and we’ll bring you another National Treasure, but they’re both very active….The one for Disney+ is a much younger cast. It’s the same concept but a young cast. The one for theatrical would be the same cast.”
He said the film is currently being written and the series has a pilot script written with an outline for future episodes.
At this stage in the process though, it’s always important to know it’s not a done deal. Just because these projects are in development and being written doesn’t mean they’ll necessarily get made. But, will Disney turn down a four-quadrant name-brand franchise from Bruckheimer and Cage? Or another piece of original content for its streaming service with name recognition? Probably not. There are no guarantees, though. Either way, for fans of the franchise, and there are plenty out there, this is exciting news.
To recap, National Treasure was a film released in 2004 about Nicolas Cage stealing the Declaration of Independence. Think of it as the Disney version of Tomb Raider meets Ocean’s Eleven with a history lesson attached. That film was a big enough hit to spawn a 2007 sequel, Book of Secrets, in which Cage’s character—whose name is Benjamin Franklin Gates—has to kidnap the president.
Basically they’re goofy, entertaining, lightweight action movies that go down incredibly easy. Exactly the kind of entertainment people crave these days.