Inspired by the Robert Langdon universe site takeover earlier this month, I thought it would be a good moment to check the status of the upcoming National Treasure TV series. Both franchises scratch the same adventure and hidden history itch. Consider this your primer on what we know so far about the world of Benjamin Franklin Gates.
Disney has a new series in development.
In March of this year, Disney announced more details about the National Treasure TV series for Disney+ to the trade press. The greenlit project will officially have ten episodes and be led by writers Marianne and Cormac Wibberley. And though the show doesn’t have a name yet, it does have a main character, Jess Morales, who sounds super interesting.
“…the series explores the timely issues of identity, community, historical authorship, and patriotism, told from the point of view of Jess Morales, a twenty-year-old DREAMer who, with her diverse group of friends, sets off on the adventure of a lifetime to uncover her mysterious family history and recover lost treasure.” Source: Deadline
Putting family history at the show’s core is a great move, and it was part of why the first two National Treasure movies were so successful. We also know from other interviews that the rest of the cast will be fairly young, too – it sounds like the adventurers will have a lot of appeal for a younger demographic.
But what about the movies?
Fans of the movies shouldn’t despair because there’s a sequel in development on that front, too. It’s been in the works for a few years, with Jerry Bruckheimer set to produce and Chris Bremner to pen the screenplay. According to Bruckheimer, the cast will be the same as the previous two movies. The film has no release date yet, but I bet we’ll get answers about it as we get more information about the TV show.
I hope we’ll explore some of the loose threads from the movie. In National Treasure: Book of Secrets, there was a line about “life-altering” information found on page 47 of the president’s book. That would be a fun mystery to explore for the movie – and if it’s “life-altering,” then the stakes are undoubtedly grand enough for a feature scale. The contents of the page have certainly speculated upon endlessly on the internet.
Crossover potential
It will be interesting if there are any crossovers between the two moving forward. Nicholas Cage sticks with movies nowadays, but if he were to appear in the television show, it would get lots of eyeballs and attention. Disney has shown that they’re willing to have their stars go back and forth between mediums – look at the crossovers between the recent Marvel TV shows and the movies. For Cage, too, it would be a return to his roots. In 1981, the actor had his world debut in a pilot for ABC called The Best of Times that ultimately never went anywhere. One could argue that Cage already made the jump back to TV when he acted as the executive producer on The Dresden Files; however, the actor never made an on-screen appearance in that world.
In addition to Cage, Justin Bartha, Diane Kruger, Jon Voight, and Harvey Keitel would be fun to see on the small screen. There’s also the possibility for some of the folks from the TV show to appear in the movie world, creating one big happy world of cannon and continuity.
I can already envision a moment when Benjamin Franklin Gates and Jess Morales meet. It’s sure to be full of humor and heart.
How to watch the series
The show is still early in development. We have details about the main character but need casting information about who will portray her. As time passes and filming dates get closer, Disney will surely release that information. We’ll be keeping an eye out until then.
Note: This post originally appeared on AylaRuby.com before the hosting went poof. Since that site no longer exists with hosting, you get to visit the archives here. Please mind the cobwebs.