How do you steal the Declaration of Independence? Easy. Just do exactly what Nicolas Cage did in National Treasure.
In addition to turning history into a patriotic puzzle, director Jon Turteltaub’s depiction of how Cage’s scholar-turned-reluctant thief Ben Gates manages to bag this iconic document was actually a real-life tutorial hiding in plain sight—at one point at least.
“We came up with how it’s done based on what someone would do in that instance,” reveals Turteltaub, remembering pre-production visits to the National Archive. “They had movies on how it was stored, hidden and protected. They showed us how it goes in, where it goes… It was three weeks before 9/11 and would’ve been impossible afterwards. We saw a whole system that then changed. They didn’t show us how they changed it, but I’m guessing they didn’t change it all that much,” he says with a laugh. “It was based on how it was.”
This focus on fact over blockbuster fiction is something Turtletaub was keen to inject into National Treasure but something few took away from the film. Eventually, it became a point of contention: “It made me crazy that [people thought] we made everything up and it was stupid,” he admits, speaking to us as the movie celebrates its 20th birthday on Nov. 19. “We made up conclusions but we didn’t make up the facts.”
Released in 2004, National Treasure casts Cage as an unlikely action hero whose “secret weapon is his knowledge and intelligence,” explains the director. When the map to a hidden Freemason’s treasure is discovered on the back of the Declaration of Independence, Gates must steal it before his former pal and evil Brit Ian Howe, played by Sean Bean, gets it first.
Produced by action-auteur Jerry Bruckheimer, Turteltaub’s historical heist spawned a 2007 sequel, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, a short-lived TV series, a constantly rumored third installment, and an onslaught of memes. However, the fact that the franchise exists at all was enough for its director.
“It was probably the most I cared about a movie and ultimately the most unpleasant experience I’ve had making a movie. Therefore, it was the most rewarding in its success,” says Turteltaub candidly. “I loved the idea but it was an unbearable challenge to get it made. I was often told why it was never going to work.”
According to Turteltaub, higher-ups were convinced that “history is boring and nobody wants a history lesson” but he knew otherwise. “History is only boring if your teacher’s boring,” reasons the director, “and this wasn’t going to be a boring teacher. It was going to be awesome.”
Mixing thrilling action with real-world knowledge, Turteltaub also wanted to prove that exotic treasure hunts don’t always have to whisk us away to far-flung locations. “Every grand adventure takes place somewhere outside the United States as if we have no romance or history,” he says. “We have an amazing history that people find fun and exciting—and it’s worth seeing a fictional story about.”
After lots of false starts, Turteltaub says two key elements secured the movie a green light. “Jerry Bruckheimer put it in a place where it couldn’t be ignored and once Nic was on board, the studio couldn’t say no.”
That said, finding Ben Gates was almost as hard as stealing the Declaration of Independence. “I’m not sure what it was that big actors [were put off by],” he tells us. “It was a little out of the ordinary because our hero is not ‘action movie cool’.” Turteltaub knew that Gates’ real power was his intelligence and “how forcefully he feels the importance of goodness, all of which sound uncool,” he says. “I’m not sure people read the script and saw that as a plus.”
Thankfully, he already had an “in” with Cage who delivers one of his most subdued and sincere performances. “Nic and I were in secondary school together,” reveals Turteltaub, “so we had a nice relationship and I knew I could talk to him from my heart. The only way Ben Gates wasn’t a boring bookworm is if he’s played by Nic Cage who fills him with personality—but Nic knew not to go nuts. This isn’t that guy,” he says. “Nic is a crazy dude but he’s not insane. He’s smart and on top of things. And never boring.”
As Turteltaub’s research got underway, he was led to some unlikely places which directly influenced a few of the story’s key scenes, like Gates’ trip into the long-forgotten depths of the Trinity Church basement and through the hidden crypts lurking just below the public’s feet.
“I asked to see what was in the basement and they happily took us down,” remembers Turteltaub, still a little in shock at the access he was granted. “There were brick walls with water pouring down and little abscesses in the walls. One had mops and brooms in it but the second was full of caskets of people who had to have their graves moved at some point. They were stacked up on top of each other, including small ones for babies and children,” he recalls. “I couldn’t believe it. It was right out of a movie. Everything in [National Treasure] is through the lens of something true.”
However, filming in some of America’s most iconic spots came with some weird rules. “In a lot of places, they weren’t worried about us damaging something. They were worried about us ruining the vacations of Americans, which is a legitimate and good excuse,” he admits. Despite being given access to places like the National Archives, the Thomas Jefferson Memorial and the Library of Congress, daily security briefings informed them of odd red tape, like keeping the noise to a minimum at the latter so they didn’t bother nearby congressmen. “We [had access] to really fancy places but couldn’t be in really mundane places. That shocked us.”
The shoot also shed some interesting light on the movie’s McGuffin: “They didn’t want us shooting around the Declaration. Not because we might damage it but because our lights might harm the paintings that hung in the same room. Who knew? There are little secrets we were not supposed to tell,” adds Turteltaub, “like if there’s a huge event with lots of people, if necessary, they’ll put a fake in place for the real one. For its own sake, it gets put in a very, very safe place. It’s a really good fake,” he adds, “but there’s no way it’s going to get damaged or stolen if there are 1000 people in the National Archive.”
Historical artifacts aside, he even had time to add in his own puzzles into the film for eagle-eyed British viewers. “Yes, it’s intentional that the movie has an English bad guy,” confirms Turteltaub of Bean’s villainous Howe. In fact, it was Bean who added a sports reference to a key notepad scene glimpsed during Gates’ quest: “I challenge English European League fans to find the reference to Sean’s football team, Sheffield United. There’s a real Easter Egg in the movie.”
Considering the film’s patriotic themes, the filmmaker was keen to try and redefine some of the connotations surrounding the term. Despite later directing an anti-Trump video, Turteltuab welcomed the chance to cast people like Jon Voight—a well-known Republican and someone who’s since become a vocal Trump supporter—as Gates’ father.
“As far as I’m concerned, Jon Voight is completely politically bats--t crazy and also one of the most delightful, lovely people I know. The world needs to work that way,” suggests Turteltaub. “We need to be allowed to love people who feel differently from us about things because if we stop talking to each other, we lose everything.” He also wanted to show that “patriotism can be cool. It doesn’t have to be conservative. Patriotism is something that’s felt by all people and you don’t have to exclude people from your club to be patriotic.”
National Treasure showed that history and action cinema can not only co-exist but they can become highly successful. It also proved that violence isn’t always the answer: “I wanted to make a full-scale adventure movie where the hero never touched a gun. No one noticed,” says Turteltaub, “but the movie said that being smart is really the best weapon you can have.”
Despite rumors of a potential third adventure regularly doing the rounds, Turteltaub tells us that Gates is sadly no closer to starting its next mission anytime soon. “There’s a bunch of reasons why there [isn’t a third film.] We all know there should be but it needs to be great,” he says. “Sometimes things are just hard.”
Still, the fact that his original film not only got made but succeeded, remains a point of pride in the filmmaker’s varied back catalog, which also includes Cool Runnings, While You Were Sleeping and The Meg. “It was a triumph over failure and about pushing forward to make something great when, at times, it was an unbearable struggle,” he smiles. “Surviving and having this movie become a success means an enormous amount to me.”
