It has been over twenty years. Two decades since a sweat-drenched, incredibly earnest Nicolas Cage looked into a camera and decided he was going to steal the Declaration of Independence. On paper, it sounds like a disaster. A career-ending blemish. Instead, National Treasure became a permanent fixture of American pop culture that refuses to die.
Honestly, we’ve all been there. It’s a rainy Sunday, you’re flipping through channels—or more likely scrolling through a streaming app—and there it is. You see the meerschaum pipe. You see the Riley Poole snark. Suddenly, you've watched the whole thing for the fifteenth time.
Why? Because it’s perfect.
The Cage Factor: More Than Just a Meme
You can’t talk about National Treasure with Nicolas Cage without talking about the man himself. By 2004, Cage was already an Oscar winner, but he hadn't yet entered his "Vampire's Kiss" meme era. He played Benjamin Franklin Gates with a level of sincerity that feels almost alien today.
He isn't playing it for laughs.
When Ben Gates explains that "the secret lies with Charlotte," he isn't winking at the audience. He believes it. That’s the magic. If you have an actor who thinks the plot is silly, the audience thinks the plot is silly. But Cage treats a hidden map on the back of a 200-year-old parchment like it's the Gospel.
Real History vs. Movie Magic
People love to point out the inaccuracies. It’s a favorite pastime for history buffs. Did Benjamin Franklin invent daylight savings? Sorta, but not really. He joked about it in an essay to save candles. He definitely didn't build a set of multi-colored 3D glasses to read invisible ink on the back of the nation's founding document.
And let’s be real about the Declaration itself.
- The real document is incredibly faded.
- You can barely see the signatures, let alone "lemon juice" maps.
- The National Archives security is a lot tighter than a gala invite and some high-tech sensors.
But that’s the beauty of the franchise. It’s "History-Adjacent." It makes you want to go to a museum. After the movie came out in 2004, tourism to the National Archives and Independence Hall spiked. People wanted to see the "brick-by-brick" replica for themselves, even though the movie actually used a set built at Knott’s Berry Farm for some of those Philadelphia scenes.
The "National Treasure 3" Saga: Where Are We Now?
The question everyone asks in 2026: where is the third movie?
It’s been a rollercoaster. We had the Disney+ series, National Treasure: Edge of History, which was... fine. It had some fun cameos from Harvey Keitel and Justin Bartha, but it lacked that "Cage Rage" energy. Disney canceled it after one season.
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Jerry Bruckheimer, the legendary producer, hasn't given up. As of late 2025 and heading into 2026, the word is that a script is finally in a "good place." Cage has been hot and cold about it. One day he’s saying "look at Disney, the treasure isn't there," and the next, there are rumors of him meeting with director Jon Turtletaub.
The fans want "Page 47."
What was in the President's Book of Secrets?
We’ve been waiting since 2007.
Why It Still Works
The movie is a heist film disguised as a history lesson. It’s got a great villain in Sean Bean (who, shockingly, does not die in this movie). It’s got the perfect sidekick in Riley. And it has a sense of optimism that feels rare now.
It’s not cynical.
It’s not gritty.
It’s just a guy who loves history trying to protect it from a British guy with a checkbook.
What You Should Do Next
If you're feeling the itch to revisit the Gates family lineage, skip the low-quality clips on social media.
- Watch the "Special Features": If you can find an old DVD or the "Director's Cut" on streaming, the commentary with Jon Turtletaub and Nicolas Cage is gold. They actually talk about the nine different writers it took to finish the script.
- Check out the Franklin Institute: If you're ever in Philly, go see the real locations. The movie uses the Reading Terminal Market and the Franklin Institute. It’s a great way to see how much they actually got right about the layout of the city.
- Keep an eye on the trades: Follow Jerry Bruckheimer’s official announcements. In the industry, "development" can mean anything, but with the recent 20th-anniversary nostalgia, the pressure for a theatrical return of Ben Gates has never been higher.
There is no replacement for the original. You can try to reboot it, you can try to make it a TV show, but at the end of the day, you need the man in the tux stealing the parchment.
Go ahead. Fire up the Disney+ or dig out the Blu-ray. You know you want to see that "I'm going to steal the Declaration of Independence" scene one more time.
Actionable Insight: If you're looking for the most accurate historical breakdown of the film, the National Archives actually has a blog post debunking the "Invisible Ink" myth while praising the film for its impact on historical interest. It's a great read for anyone who wants to separate the Freemason legends from the actual Revolutionary War facts.