''National Treasure'' is a 2004 American

action-adventure The action-adventure genre is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Typically, pure adventure games have situational problems for the player to solve to complete a storyli ...

heist film The heist film or caper film is a subgenre of crime film focused on the planning, execution, and aftermath of a significant robbery. One of the early defining heist films was ''The Asphalt Jungle'' (1950), which ''Film Genre 2000'' wrote "almo ...

released by

Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Studios uni ...

. It was written by

Jim Kouf Jim Kouf (born July 24, 1951) is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. He received the 1988 Edgar Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay for his work on ''Stakeout (1987 film), Stakeout'' (1987). Filmography Film *''The Boogens ...

and the Wibberleys, produced by

Jerry Bruckheimer Jerome Leon Bruckheimer (born September 21, 1943) is an American film and television Film producer, producer. He has been active in the genres of Action film, action, Drama film, drama, Fantasy film, fantasy, and Science fiction film, science fi ...

, and directed by

Jon Turteltaub Jonathan Charles Turteltaub (born August 8, 1963) is an American film director and producer. Life and career Turteltaub was born on August 8, 1963 in New York City, one of two children born to comedy writer Saul Turteltaub (best known for his ...

. It is the first film in the ''National Treasure'' franchise and stars

Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. Born into the Coppola family, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Gu ...

in the lead role,

Harvey Keitel Harvey Keitel ( ; born May 13, 1939) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of morally ambiguous and "tough guy" characters. He first rose to prominence during the New Hollywood movement, and has held a long-running association with ...

Jon Voight Jonathan Vincent Voight (; born December 29, 1938) is an American actor. He came to prominence in the late 1960s with his Academy Award–nominated performance as Joe Buck, a would-be gigolo, in ''Midnight Cowboy'' (1969). During the 1970s, he ...

Diane Kruger Diane Kruger ( Heidkrüger; ; born 15 July 1976) is a German and American actress. Early in her career, Kruger gained worldwide recognition and received the Trophée Chopard from the Cannes Film Festival. Kruger became known for her roles in f ...

Sean Bean Sean Bean (born Shaun Mark Bean on 17 April 1959) is an English actor. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Bean made his professional debut in a theatre production of ''Romeo and Juliet'' in 1983. Retaining his Yorkshire ac ...

Justin Bartha Justin Lee Bartha (born July 21, 1978) is an American actor, known for his roles as Riley Poole in the ''National Treasure'' film series, Doug Billings in ''The Hangover'' trilogy, and David Sawyer in the NBC comedy series '' The New Normal''. ...

and

Christopher Plummer Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer (December 13, 1929 – February 5, 2021) was a Canadian actor. His career spanned seven decades, gaining him recognition for his performances in film, stage, and television. He received multiple accolades, inc ...

. In the film, Benjamin Franklin Gates, a historian, along with friend Riley Poole and archivist Abigail Chase, search for a massive lost

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

treasure, to which a map is hidden on the back of the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...

. ''National Treasure'' was released worldwide on November 19, 2004. The film grossed $347 million worldwide and received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the action scenes and performances but criticized the premise and screenplay. A sequel, '' National Treasure: Book of Secrets'', was released in 2007. At the 2022 D23 Expo, a sequel TV series, '' National Treasure: Edge of History'', was announced. It was released on the Disney+ streaming service on December 14, 2022.

Plot

Benjamin Franklin Gates is an American historian,

cryptographer Cryptography, or cryptology (from grc, , translit=kryptós "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adver ...

, and treasure hunter. When Ben was young, his grandfather John told him that, in 1832, Charles Carroll passed on a secret to their ancestor of a fabled treasure hidden in America by the

Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

Founding Fathers The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...

, and

Freemasons Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

. Carroll's secret was a clue leading to the treasure: the phrase "the secret lies with Charlotte". While Ben is convinced by the story, his skeptical father, Patrick, dismisses it as nonsense. Thirty years later, Ben and his friend, computer expert Riley Poole, head an expedition financed by wealthy Ian Howe to find the ''Charlotte'', revealed to be a ship lost in the

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

. Within the ship, they find a

meerschaum pipe A meerschaum pipe is a smoking pipe made from the mineral sepiolite, also known as meerschaum. Meerschaum (, German for "sea foam") is sometimes found floating on the Black Sea and is rather suggestive of sea foam (hence the German origin of th ...

, whose engravings reveal the next clue is on the

. When Ian reveals himself to be a

crime boss A crime boss, also known as a crime lord, Don, gang lord, gang boss, mob boss, kingpin, godfather, crime mentor or criminal mastermind, is a person in charge of a criminal organization. Description A crime boss typically has absolute or nearl ...

and suggests stealing the Declaration, a fight ensues, and the group splits. Ben and Riley report Ian's plan to the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

and Abigail Chase of the National Archives, but no one believes them. Ben decides to protect the Declaration by removing it from the Archives' preservation room during a gala event. Obtaining Abigail's fingerprints, he successfully obtains the Declaration, only to be spotted by Ian's group just as they break in to steal it. Ben tries to leave via the

gift shop A gift shop or souvenir shop is a store primarily selling souvenirs, memorabilia, and other items relating to a particular topic or theme. The items sold often include coffee mugs, stuffed animals, toys, t-shirts, postcards, handmade collect ...

but has to pay for the Declaration when the cashier mistakes it for a souvenir copy. Suspecting something amiss, Abigail confronts Ben and takes back the document. Ian promptly kidnaps her, but Ben and Riley rescue Abigail, tricking Ian by leaving behind a souvenir copy of the Declaration. FBI Agent Sadusky begins tracking Ben down. Going to Patrick's house, the trio studies the Declaration and discovers an

Ottendorf cipher A book cipher, or Ottendorf cipher, is a cipher in which the key is some aspect of a book or other piece of text. Books, being common and widely available in modern times, are more convenient for this use than objects made specifically for crypto ...

written in invisible ink. The message refers to

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

Silence Dogood Mrs. Silence Dogood was the pen name used by Benjamin Franklin to get his work published in the '' New-England Courant'', a newspaper founded and published by his brother James Franklin. This was after Benjamin Franklin was denied several times wh ...

letters. Patrick formerly owned them, but donated them to the

Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute is a science museum and the center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memori ...

. Paying a schoolboy to view the letters and decipher the code for them, Ben, Riley, and Abigail discover a message pointing to the bell tower of

Independence Hall Independence Hall is a historic civic building in Philadelphia, where both the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted by America's Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Fa ...

. Pursued by Ian, they find a brick containing a pair of spectacles with multiple colored lenses, which, when used to read the back of the Declaration, reveal a clue pointing to Trinity Church. Ian's associates chase the trio through

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

until the FBI arrests Ben. Abigail and Riley lose the Declaration to Ian, but Abigail convinces Ian to help them rescue Ben in exchange for the next clue. Ian agrees, arranging a meeting at the USS ''Intrepid'', where they help Ben evade the FBI. Ian returns the Declaration and asks for the next clue, but when Ben remains coy, Ian reveals he has taken Patrick hostage. They travel to the Trinity Church, where they find an underground passage that appears to lead to a dead end, lit by a lone lantern. Patrick claims it is a reference to the Midnight Ride of

Paul Revere Paul Revere (; December 21, 1734 O.S. (January 1, 1735 N.S.)May 10, 1818) was an American silversmith, engraver, early industrialist, Sons of Liberty member, and Patriot and Founding Father. He is best known for his midnight ride to ale ...

, pointing Ian to the

Old North Church Old North Church (officially, Christ Church in the City of Boston), at 193 Salem Street, in the North End, Boston, is the location from which the famous "One if by land, two if by sea" signal is said to have been sent. This phrase is related ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. Ian traps Ben, Abigail, Riley, and Patrick in the chamber, heading for Boston, which was Patrick's intent as the clue was fictitious and he knew that Ian would betray them. Ben then finds a notch the meerschaum pipe fits into, opening a large chamber containing the treasure, with a staircase to the surface. Ben contacts Sadusky, who is actually a Freemason, and surrenders the Declaration and the treasure's location in exchange for letting Abigail go free, giving the Gates family and Riley credit for the discovery, and no prison sentence. On a tip from Ben, the FBI arrests Ian for kidnapping and other crimes. Later, Ben and Abigail have started a relationship, while Riley is somewhat upset that Ben turned down the 10% finder's fee for the treasure so the entire collection could go to museums. But the 1% he did accept has still netted them all significant wealth.

Cast

as Benjamin Franklin Gates:
An American treasure hunter and cryptographer. ** Hunter Gomez as young Benjamin Gates *

as Dr. Abigail Chase:
An archivist at the National Archives who aids Benjamin Gates in treasure hunting. *

as Ian Howe:
An entrepreneur, crime boss and treasure hunter who is a former friend of Benjamin Gates. *

as Riley Poole:
A sardonic computer expert and friend of Benjamin Gates. *

as Patrick Henry Gates:
A former treasure hunter and the father of Benjamin Gates. *

as Agent Peter Sadusky:
An FBI Special Agent in charge of the theft of the Declaration of Independence. *

as John Adams Gates:
The father of Patrick Gates and the grandfather of Benjamin Gates. Jack Koenig portrays a young version of Founding Father Charles Carroll;

David Dayan Fisher David Dayan Fisher is an English actor from London, England. He is known for his frequent portrayal of antagonistic characters, as well as his deep voice. He played Michael Sowerby/Raz in ''The Bill'', he has also appeared in ''The Last Post'', ...

appears as Shaw, Stewart Finlay-McLennan as Powell,

Oleg Taktarov Oleg Nikolaevich Taktarov (russian: Оле́г Никола́евич Такта́ров; born 26 August 1967) is a Russian actor and retired mixed martial artist. He was a practitioner of Sambo and Judo and competed in the Ultimate Fighting Cham ...

as Viktor Shippen, and Stephen Pope as Phil McGregor (Ian's henchmen);

Annie Parisse Anne Marie Cancelmi (born July 31, 1975), known professionally as Annie Parisse, is an American actress. She portrayed Alexandra Borgia on the drama series '' Law & Order''. Parisse has also starred as Julia Snyder on the soap opera ''As the W ...

Mark Pellegrino Mark Ross Pellegrino (born April 9, 1965) is an American actor of film and television. He is best known for his work as Lucifer in ''Supernatural'', Paul Bennett in '' Dexter'', Jacob in ''Lost'', James Bishop in '' Being Human'', Clayton Haas ...

Armando Riesco Armando Riesco (born December 5, 1977) is a Puerto Rican actor. Early life Riesco was born in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, to Cuban immigrants who resettled there. He was raised in San Juan where he attended Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola. He then ...

, and

Erik King Erik King (born April 21, 1963) is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Sergeant James Doakes on Showtime's television series '' Dexter''. He is also known for his roles as Moses Deyell on '' Oz''., and as Bobby Davidson in ''Mis ...

play agents Dawes, Ted Johnson, Hendricks, and Colfax, respectively.

Jason Earles Jason Daniel Earles (born April 26, 1977) is an American actor. Known for his role as Jackson Stewart in the Disney Channel sitcom ''Hannah Montana'' and his role as Rudy Gillespie in the Disney XD series '' Kickin' It''. Early life Earles was ...

portrays Thomas Gates.

Production

Development

By early 1999, it was revealed that

was developing ''National Treasure'' based upon an idea developed by Oren Aviv and

Charles Segars Charles Segars is a Media and Communications executive, National Security consultant, a Producer/Writer and a native of Pittsburgh. He is CEO of Ovation (U.S. TV channel), President of Segars Mediand partner in OPSEC Allianc He has had an ext ...

in 1997, with a script by

. By 2001, the project was relocated to

Touchstone Pictures Touchstone Pictures, Inc. was an American film production label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Feature films released under the Touchstone label were produced and financed by Walt Disney Studios, and featu ...

. In May 2003,

was cast as the lead. New drafts were written by nine scribers, including

Cormac and Marianne Wibberley Cormac Wibberley and Marianne Wibberley (also known as The Wibberleys) are an American husband and wife screenwriting team. They have been writing together since 1991, and made their first screenplay sale in 1993. Cormac's father was Leonard ...

E. Max Frye Eric Max Frye (born 1956) is an American screenwriter and film director from Oregon. In 2015, he received an Academy Award nomination for co-writing, with Dan Futterman, the original screenplay for ''Foxcatcher''. Early life and education Fry ...

, and

. By October,

was cast.

Filming locations

''National Treasure'' was filmed primarily in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. Most scenes were filmed on location, with the exceptions of the

scene, which was filmed at the replica of Independence Hall at

Knott's Berry Farm Knott's Berry Farm is a theme park located in Buena Park, California, owned and operated by Cedar Fair. In 2015, it was the twelfth-most-visited theme park in North America and averages approximately 4 million visitors per year. It features 40 ...

, and the Arctic scene, which was filmed in Utah.

Soundtrack

Portrayal of Declaration of Independence

The film's suggestion that the original Declaration of Independence still has clearly visible ink is inaccurate. The document's ink dried over time due to exposure to damaging lighting, with little ink still existing by 1876. But viewers are often surprised to learn that many plot points in ''National Treasure'' and its sequel are inspired by true, often little-known, events in history. Since 2020, an independent podcast, the ''National Treasure Hunt'', has conducted deep dives into many of these historical events.

Reception

Box office

''National Treasure'' earned $11 million on its opening day in the United States, ahead of

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

's ''

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie ''The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie'' is a 2004 American live-action animated film, live-action/animated adventure comedy film based on the Nickelodeon animated television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. The film was directed, co-written, and ...

'' (which earned $9,559,752). It grossed $35,142,554 during its opening weekend, on 4,300 screens at 3,243 theaters, averaging $11,648 per venue, again ahead of ''The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie''. The film had the best opening weekend for a Disney film released in November until it was surpassed by ''

Chicken Little "Henny Penny", more commonly known in the United States as "Chicken Little" and sometimes as "Chicken Licken", is a European folk tale with a moral in the form of a cumulative tale about a chicken who believes that the world is coming to an end ...

'' in 2005. It held on to the No. 1 spot for three weekends. In Japan, ''National Treasure'' bested the double-billing '' MegaMan NT Warrior: Program of Light and Dark'' and '' Duel Masters: Curse of the Deathphoenix'', grossing $11,666,763 in its first week. The film closed on June 2, 2005, with a domestic gross of $173,008,894 and earning $174,503,424 internationally. Worldwide, ''National Treasure'' grossed over $347,512,318, against a budget of $100 million.

Critical reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has an approval rating of 46% based on 179 reviews, and an average rating of 5.30/10. The site's consensus reads, "''National Treasure'' is no treasure, but it's a fun ride for those who can forgive its highly improbable plot." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film has a score of 39 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

gave the film 2/4 stars, calling it "so silly that the

Monty Python Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four ...

version could use the same screenplay, line for line." Academic

David Bordwell David Jay Bordwell (; born July 23, 1947) is an American film theorist and film historian. Since receiving his PhD from the University of Iowa in 1974, he has written more than fifteen volumes on the subject of cinema including ''Narration in th ...

has expressed a liking for the film, placing it in the tradition of 1950s

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

children's adventure movies, and using it as the basis for an essay on scene transitions in

classical Hollywood cinema Classical Hollywood cinema is a term used in film criticism to describe both a narrative and visual style of filmmaking which became characteristic of American cinema between the 1910s (rapidly after World War I) and the 1960s. It eventually be ...

Awards

Home media

''National Treasure'' was released on Disney DVD in May 2005. In keeping with the movie's theme, the DVD contains a "Bonus Treasure Hunt": viewers who watch the Special Features on the disc are rewarded with puzzles and codes that unlock more features.

Collector's Edition DVD

To help promote ''Book of Secrets'', a special collector's edition, two-disc DVD set of the movie was released on December 18, 2007. The set features a bonus disc containing additional deleted scenes and documentaries.

Blu-ray

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc., doing business as Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, is the home entertainment distribution arm of The Walt Disney Company. The division handles the distribution of Disney's films, television series, an ...

released

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

versions of ''National Treasure'' and its sequel, ''National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets'', on May 20, 2008.

Sequels

Although the DVD commentary stated that there were no plans for a sequel, the film's box office gross of an unexpected $347.5 million worldwide warranted a second film, which was given the green light in 2005. '' National Treasure: Book of Secrets'' was released on December 21, 2007. In 2008, director Jon Turteltaub said that the filmmaking team would take its time on another ''National Treasure'' sequel. In October 2013, Turteltaub confirmed that he, the studio, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and the actors all wanted to do a third film, saying: "We want to do the movie, Disney wants to do the movie. We're just having the damnedest time writing it. I'll bet that within two years, we'll be shooting that movie. I'd say we're about halfway there." In May 2016, Cage confirmed the film was still in the writing process, and in July 2018, Turtletaub reiterated that a script for a possible third film was "close", but Disney still was not completely sold on it. In January 2020, it was announced that Chris Bremner, the writer of ''

Bad Boys for Life ''Bad Boys for Life'' is a 2020 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Adil & Bilall. It is the sequel to ''Bad Boys II'' (2003) and the third installment in the ''Bad Boys'' franchise. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence reprise their ...

'', would write a new script. In May 2020,

confirmed that, not only was there a third film in development with the original cast returning, but also that a

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and deligh ...

series was in the works with the same premise as the original, but focusing on a much younger cast. During an April 2022 AMA (Ask Me Anything) thread on Reddit, Cage said of the possibility of future installments: "No, the priority was to turn it into a TV show so I would say probably not."

References

External links

* * * * {{Authority control 2004 films 2000s adventure films 2000s heist films American adventure films American heist films Walt Disney Pictures films 2000s English-language films Films about Freemasonry Films directed by Jon Turteltaub Films produced by Jerry Bruckheimer Films scored by Trevor Rabin Films set in 1974 Films set in 2004 Films set in Massachusetts Films set in New York City Films set in New Jersey Films set in Pennsylvania Films set in Philadelphia Films set in Washington, D.C. Films shot in New York City Hollywood Records soundtracks Museums in popular culture Treasure hunt films Cryptography in fiction American Revolutionary War films United States Declaration of Independence Cultural depictions of George Washington Cultural depictions of Thomas Jefferson Cultural depictions of Benjamin Franklin Saturn Films films Secret histories National Treasure (film series) 2000s American films

Plot

Cast

Production

Development

Filming locations

Soundtrack

Portrayal of Declaration of Independence

Reception

Box office

Critical reception

Awards

Home media

Collector's Edition DVD

Blu-ray

Sequels

See also

References

External links