'National Treasure' TV Series Getting Ready To Solve History's Mysteries At Disney+

Disney is all-in on more National Treasure. Not only is a new National Treasure sequel in the works, there's also a National Treasure TV series being developed for Disney+. There's a catch, though. The TV series will feature a younger cast, which means that we won't get the pleasure of seeing Nicolas Cage run around the country finding puzzles left by Ben Franklin and other famous dead guys.

Look, I'll level with you. National Treasure is stupid. It's silly as heck and 100% implausible. And I love it. I love everything about it, from the clues left by the founding fathers, to Nicolas Cage dramatically declaring he's going to steal the Declaration of Independence. It's gold from top to bottom. And while the sequel, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, was a big disappointment, I'm always up for more. And Disney is, too, because they're making both a sequel movie and a TV show.

We reported on the movie sequel earlier this year, when word broke that Bad Boys for Life co-writer Chris Bremner was handling the script. Now, Collider reports that a TV series is being developed for Disney+. Franchise producer Jerry Bruckheimer said:

"We're certainly working on one [National Treasure] for streaming and we're working on one for the big screen. 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."

I don't want to be instantly dismissive here, but bringing in a "young cast" doesn't sound that great to me. The big appeal of the first National Treasure movie wasn't just the premise – it was also Nicolas Cage. Watching Nic Cage do his Nic Cage thing – who else could deliver the line "I'm going to steal the Declaration of Independence!" with such conviction? – is what makes that first movie so fun. Removing from the equation, and focusing on some new kid characters, just won't cut it.

But at least Bruckheimer confirms that National Treasure 3 will bring Cage and the gang back. However, it'll probably be a while before we see it. Bruckheimer said that the script for the movie is "being written right now" while the TV show is "in process" with a pilot script and outlines of future episodes done.