National Treasure is a series of political theatrical adventure mystery films produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and starring Nicolas Cage as Benjamin Gates, a treasure hunter who, with the help of his father, Patrick Henry Gates (Jon Voight), his girlfriend, Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger) and his loyal sidekick, Riley Poole (Justin Bartha), uncovers hidden troves and secrets from America's past. The films were distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. There are also a series of novels detailing the ancestors of Ben Gates, all written by Catherine Hapka.
The original National Treasure film centers on the Gates family legend of a fantastic treasure trove of artifacts and gold, hidden by the Founding Fathers of the United States, and the attempts by the scion of the family, Benjamin Franklin Gates, to find the treasure before his ex-friend, Ian Howe (Sean Bean), steals and destroys the Declaration of Independence.
National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007)
In the sequel to the original 2004 film, black market dealer Mitch Wilkinson (Ed Harris) locates one of the 18 missing pages of John Wilkes Booth's diary and suggests that Ben's ancestor, Thomas Gates, was a conspirator in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, so Ben sets out to prove his innocence by kidnapping the current U.S. President (Bruce Greenwood) and by finding the disappeared hidden truth.
Future
In December 2007, before the second film was released, Nicolas Cage showed interest in doing a third film, believing it should be more international. In early 2008, Disney registered the domains for NationalTreasure3DVD.com and NationalTreasure4DVD.com (both sites are now unregistered and the second link redirects). In May 2008, Director Jon Turteltaub said that the filmmaking team would take its time on another National Treasure sequel. In September 2008, Jerry Bruckheimer officially confirmed that they were in the process of developing a third film, and in November of that year, Bruckheimer said that the writers were in the process of writing the script to the film. In May 2010, Bruckheimer said that the first draft of the screenplay was completed.
In a February 2012 interview with Nicolas Cage, Cage stated: "...I have not heard any news about a third one at this time, and it would be interesting to take National Treasure into South America." In a May 2013 interview with Justin Bartha, Bartha stated that a third installment was still a possibility and that scripts have been written. In another interview in April 2014 with Bruckheimer he stated that the first act of National Treasure 3 was complete and "exciting".
On March 4, 2016, Disney CEO Bob Iger responded to a question regarding the third film, saying, "We have done two, and yes they were really fine movies. I know Jerry Bruckheimer who produced them has had conversations with our studio a number of times about it, and there have been some developments along the way, but as of right now we have not green-lit as we say, a National Treasure 3. But I do know there is time and some resources spent on development."
On May 25, 2016, Nicolas Cage confirmed the movie was still in the writing process.
Books
There was no novelization of the first movie, but a novelization of the second titled National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets The Junior Novel was released on November 6, 2007. Parts of the story in the novel version differ slightly from what was actually filmed, owing to changes being made in the screenplay prior to and during production. For example, in the novel, Ben and Abigail photograph the wooden plank found hidden in the Queen's desk and leave it behind, with the car chase following, but in the movie, they take the plank with them on the chase. Also, the date on the statue in Paris, which is also the combination to access the plank is shown as 1865 rather than 1876.
Gates Family Mystery
Disney Press has also published a series of spin-off historical novels about ancestors of the Gates Family, all by Catherine Hapka.
Characters
Benjamin Franklin "Ben" Gates (portrayed by Nicolas Cage) - Benjamin Gates is the protagonist of the films. Ben has heard stories about the Templar Treasure from his grandfather ever since he was a young child, and decides to hunt for it himself. Along with Ian Howe and Riley Poole, Ben discovers the Charlotte, which leads him to the next clue in the treasure hunt. After being betrayed by Ian, he sets out against him to steal the Declaration of Independence. As the search progresses, Ben meets and eventually falls in love with Abigail Chase. He argues with his father who doesn't believe in the treasure, after 20 thankless years of seeking it himself. However, Ben is successful in discovering the treasure. In National Treasure: Book of Secrets, his family name is threatened by Mitch Wilkinson, and he finds himself hunting for the legendary City of Gold. He and Abigail have broken up, but are reunited during the treasure hunt. During this journey, Ben has to kidnap the President of the United States (Bruce Greenwood) to find a clue in the President's Book of Secrets. Ben is skilled at code-breaking, and has degrees in American History (from Georgetown University) and Mechanical Engineering (from MIT) as well as being an ROTC-commissioned Navy Diving Officer. Ben is portrayed by Hunter Gomez in the beginning of the first film.
Riley Poole (portrayed by Justin Bartha) - Riley Poole is the best friend of Ben Gates, and co-finder of both the Templar Treasure and the City of Gold. Ben and his financier Ian Howe find Riley working in a cubicle. He comes along on the journey to find the Charlotte, using his computer expertise to assist his friends. He writes a book about the Templar Treasure and other myths, and this book becomes a key to helping find the City of Gold in the second film. He begins having financial trouble in the second movie, and his Ferrari is impounded by the IRS for parking in a tow-away zone while he is autographing copies of his book at Border's. However, his car is returned to him after the discovery of the City of Gold. In both films he is portrayed as the comic relief of the group, and regularly replies with sarcastic jokes. He is very excited when he finally knows something Ben doesn't.
Abigail Chase (portrayed by Diane Kruger) - Abigail Chase is a German American employee at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., and the girlfriend of Benjamin Gates. The two meet during Ben's hunt for the Templar Treasure, when Ben comes to warn the Archives of Ian Howe's plan to steal the Declaration of Independence. When Abigail is brought into the hunt, she is at first against helping, attempting to escape with the Declaration. However, she begins to trust Ben, and the two quickly fall in love. She plays a large role in finding the treasure, and at the end of the first film she and Ben have moved in together. In the beginning of the second film, she and Ben have broken up, and she is dating Connor, a curator at the White House. She is out on a date with Connor when Ben attempts to steal her ID Pass for the Library of Congress to view a page from the diary of John Wilkes Booth. She and Ben argue, but when she learns of Ben's mission to find the Lost City of Gold, she decides to rejoin him and Riley in the treasure hunting. They begin to make up over the course of the film, and are soon a couple again.
Patrick Henry Gates (portrayed by Jon Voight) - Patrick Henry Gates is the father of Benjamin Gates, named for Patrick Henry. He doesn't believe in the treasures at first, thinking that the clues will just lead to other clues, not the treasure at all. It is revealed that he searched for the treasure himself for 20 years and never found it, so he came to believe that the treasure was a hoax. He thinks it's a waste of time to search for the treasure and he is dismayed when he discovers that Ben stole the Declaration of Independence. He is taken hostage by Ian and is present when they discover the treasure. In Book of Secrets, Patrick is angered by Mitch Wilkinson when he comes forward with a Booth diary page that seems to show that Thomas Gates was involved in the death of President Lincoln. He then becomes discouraged by the fact that they have no "proof" that Wilkinson is lying. When Ben and Riley are in London, Patrick is attacked by the Wilkinsons, who clone his cell phone to get access to Ben's progress. In this film, Patrick is reunited with his ex-wife, Emily Appleton. The two have to team up to save their son, and it appears that they are back together by the film's end. The two met on a treasure hunt of their own and the treasure hunt for Cibola seems to cause them to remember their love for each other and finally reconcile. Patrick is named as one of the co-finders of the City of Gold.
Agent Peter Sadusky (portrayed by Harvey Keitel) - Agent Peter Sadusky is an FBI agent (presumably of high rank) who first meets the treasure-hunters when he is assigned to the case after the Declaration of Independence is stolen. He looks for Ben throughout the night before finally finding him and taking him into custody in Philadelphia. Ben escapes him in New York, but Sadusky returns to retrieve the Declaration. He seems to not believe the story of the treasure at first, but actually seems to know it quite well, when it is shown that he is a Freemason. Sadusky arrests Ian Howe at the end of the film. In Book of Secrets, he is introduced when some of his agents come forth with a newspaper article about the Booth diary page. He is suspicious of Wilkinson, and begins to put the pieces together. Later, he is hot on Ben's trail again when Ben "kidnaps" the President of the United States. He also shows he knows more than he lets on about things: he confirms the Book of Secrets' existence to Ben, but claims not to know its location. After learning that Ben kidnapped the President, he apparently guesses what it was for and heads straight to the Library of Congress, revealing that he somehow apparently knew the location all along. He follows him to Mount Rushmore, only to lose him until after the discovery of Cibola.
Ian Howe (portrayed by Sean Bean) - Ian Howe is Ben's ex-partner and ex-financier, and the main antagonist in the first film. He comes along with Ben and Riley to the Arctic to search for the Charlotte. Ian and Ben have a brief face-off, after Ian becomes disappointed that Ben doesn't want to help steal and run chemical tests on the Declaration of Independence with him, and the faceoff ends with the ship exploding. Ian and one of accompanying men escape the ship before the explosion, and, probably assuming Ben and Riley are dead, drive off. The night of the 70th anniversary gala at the National Archives, Ian and his men break in, only to find that Ben has beaten them to the Declaration. (Ben stole it to protect it from Ian, fearing that Ian would not treat it with respect and may even destroy the document). Ian and his men then follow him out of the building and a car chase ensues. Ian then goes to Philadelphia, where he chases Abigail and Riley and ends up stealing the Declaration from them. After Ben is arrested by the FBI, Ian ends up helping him escape from custody, and then meets him at Trinity Church in New York City where it is revealed that Ian had his men abduct Patrick so that Ben can take him beneath the church. He follows Ben down into the tunnels beneath the church, where one of his men dies after falling through the rotting floorboards. The group ends up at a dead end, and Patrick makes up a clue about a lantern and it leads to the Old North Church in Boston, and it holds the Templar Treasure. Ian eventually leaves, deserting the others. Ian and his remaining men are finally apprehended in Boston while attempting to break into the church and charged with kidnapping, attempted murder and trespassing on government property.
Mitch Wilkinson (portrayed by Ed Harris) - Mitch Wilkinson is the main antagonist of the second film. Wilkinson first appears when Ben and Patrick are giving a speech, showing a page from the diary of John Wilkes Booth, which has the name Thomas Gates written on it. He says he believes it means that Gates was a conspirator in the Lincoln assassination. Wilkinson is a direct descendant of the Confederate General (and Freemason) Albert Pike and has a letter from the Queen to Pike that gives a clue to Cibola. Wilkinson and his brothers keep close tabs on Ben and his friends as they search for the clues. He overhears Ben mentioning the Statue of Liberty to Abigail in a phone conversation, and ends up going to New York City, only to find that it's the wrong statue. Before this, though, Mitch and his brothers break into Patrick's home and clone his cell phone, using this advantage to keep track of Ben and listen in on his conversations with his father. He and his two brothers follow the treasure hunters to London, where he chases them and obtains the plank from the Resolute desk at Buckingham Palace. Wilkinson then returns to the United States, where he learns that Ben's mother, Emily, is able to translate the Native American planks. He goes to her and then kidnaps her after she translates the plank, taking her to Mount Rushmore, where they meet with the rest of the group. They all venture into the caves below the mountain, and Wilkinson threatens to kill people to keep them going. His true motives are revealed: he wanted his family to finally gain some fame for discovering something and smeared Thomas Gates' name to get Ben involved in the treasure hunt, although he would later apologize to Ben after they found the City of Gold and when Thomas Gates's innocence is proven. Eventually, as a cave is filling with water, Mitch allows Ben and the others to escape and drowns in the flooded City of Gold. Initially he forced Ben to stay behind so he could live, but he stays instead and his last request is that Ben give him credit for the discovery. Despite having died, Mitch is given partial credit for the discovery of the treasure at Ben's insistence.
Emily Appleton-Gates (portrayed by Helen Mirren) - Emily Appleton-Gates is the British mother of Ben Gates and ex-wife of Patrick. She is a professor at the University of Maryland, and she has an extensive knowledge of Native American history. She is, however, extremely unpopular amongst her students. She met Patrick during a treasure hunt, but a traveling incident caused them to break up and not speak for 32 years. When Patrick arrives, she is less than pleased to see him. She translates the plank that Ben and his friends find at Buckingham Palace, which leads them to find the other half of the plank. Patrick is sent to have her translate it, though Mitch Wilkinson gets to her first, forcing her to lie to Patrick before she is kidnapped. Patrick tries to clear the air a bit between them, but she blows him off to protect him, although she slips in a clue about what's really going on that he and Ben decipher. At Mount Rushmore, she and Patrick are separated from the others in the cave, and it begins to be apparent that Patrick and Emily have fallen in love again.
Thomas Gates (portrayed by Jason Earles in the first film, Joel Gretsch in the second film) - Thomas Gates is the father of Charles Carroll Gates. Thomas appeared in both films. Thomas lived around Washington, D.C. In 1832, Charles Carroll told Thomas the story of the Templar Treasure and gave him the last remaining clue to finding it: "the secret lies with Charlotte." In 1848, Thomas was still trying to figure out the clue that had been given to him. At this time, his brother James follows a series of letters their aunt sent to their father, believing it leads to a treasure bigger than the gold of California. Thomas became known for his ability to solve puzzles. Just five days after the end of the Civil War, he is confronted by John Wilkes Booth and another member of the K.G.C.. They present to him a cipher, and he immediately begins to decode it. Booth leaves and proceeds with his plans to assassinate Lincoln. Soon after, Thomas soon learns that the men who approached him were members of the K.G.C., and he stops decoding the cipher. The man takes a gun out and urges him to continue deciphering the code. Suddenly, news of Lincoln's assassination is heard and the people in the bar are forced to exit. The man continues to urge Thomas to finish deciphering the code. When the man is distracted by the sound of a window breaking, Thomas rips out the page containing the cipher and throws it into the fireplace, trying to burn it. The man, realizing what had happened, shoots Thomas and retrieves what remains of the page and then escapes. Thomas is left dying there, with his son Charles. His last words to Charles are "the debt that all men pay..."
John Adams Gates (portrayed by Christopher Plummer in the first film) - John Adams Gates is Patrick's father. He is the one who explains the treasure to his grandson Ben.
Charles Carroll Gates - Charles Carroll Gates is the son of Thomas Gates. He witnessed his father's murder on April 14, 1865, and recounted the story to his grandson, Patrick Gates, who used this information to help figure out the location of a treasure. Charles is the main character in the novel, Forever Free, where he befriends a freed slave.
Adam Benjamin Gates - Adam Benjamin Gates is the son of John Raleigh Gates. He, along with his sister Rebecca, are the main characters in the novel, Westward Bound, which takes place in 1803.
John Raleigh Gates - John Raleigh Gates is the main character in the novel, Midnight Ride. He lived during the time of the American Revolution.
Gates Family Tree
The tree below shows the Gates family, including Ben's ancestors mentioned in the series of novels based on the movies, Changing Tides, Midnight Ride, and Uncharted. A detailed family tree is presented in the novel, Uncharted. Benjamin Franklin Gates' direct line is in bold.
Awards and nominations
The following is a table listing the awards and nominations received by National Treasure and National Treasure: Book of Secrets.
