50 Fun Facts About National Treasure

Which actor plays treasure hunter Benjamin Franklin Gates in National Treasure?

Nicolas Cage plays Benjamin Franklin Gates in both National Treasure films, opposite Diane Kruger as Abigail Chase.

What liquid do Ben, Riley and Abigail use to reveal the invisible ink on the Declaration?

Lemon juice, followed by heat from their breath, brings up the hidden Ottendorf cipher written in invisible ink on the back of the Declaration.

Which studio released National Treasure in 2004?

Walt Disney Pictures released National Treasure in November 2004, with Jerry Bruckheimer producing.

Who directed both National Treasure and its sequel?

Jon Turteltaub directed both National Treasure (2004) and Book of Secrets; Jerry Bruckheimer produced each film.

Which actor plays Ben's computer-expert sidekick Riley Poole?

Justin Bartha plays Riley Poole in both films and returned to the role for the 2022 series Edge of History.

What is the profession of Abigail Chase, played by Diane Kruger?

Abigail Chase is a National Archives archivist; Ben lifts her fingerprint from a champagne glass to get into the vault holding the Declaration.

Which actor plays Ian Howe, the financier who turns on Ben in the first film?

Sean Bean plays Ian Howe, who bankrolls the expedition and then turns on Ben, becoming the first film's villain.

The first clue leads the team to the Charlotte, which turns out to be what?

The Charlotte turns out to be a ship found in the Arctic, a colonial vessel frozen in the ice; a riddle engraved on an object aboard points to the map on the Declaration.

To read the invisible map on the Declaration, Ben needs a pair of special spectacles hidden where?

The spectacles are hidden in a brick at Independence Hall, behind a loose brick at the spot the clock tower's shadow marks at the time shown on the $100 bill.

A key clue in the first film comes from which set of writings by Benjamin Franklin?

The Silence Dogood letters, written by a teenage Franklin under a pen name, carry the Ottendorf cipher; Patrick Gates had donated them to the Franklin Institute.

The treasure map trail finally leads to an underground chamber beneath which New York landmark?

The trail ends beneath Trinity Church on Wall Street, where a lantern-lit dead end hides the way into the treasure chamber.

At the end of the first film, Ben turns down what, to Riley's annoyance?

Ben is offered a 10% finder's fee on the treasure but asks for just 1%, to Riley's lasting annoyance.

About how much did National Treasure gross worldwide?

National Treasure grossed about $347 million worldwide on a budget of roughly $100 million, enough to green-light a sequel.

Which veteran actor plays FBI agent Peter Sadusky in the National Treasure films?

Harvey Keitel plays FBI agent Peter Sadusky, who chases Ben across the first film and returns in Book of Secrets.

In what year was the National Treasure sequel released?

Book of Secrets opened in December 2007 and out-grossed the original worldwide, taking over $450 million.

Book of Secrets opens with a plot to clear a Gates ancestor accused of helping to kill which president?

Abraham Lincoln is the president; Thomas Gates is accused because John Wilkes Booth had asked him to decode a message on the night of the assassination.

The coded message in the assassin's diary uses which type of encryption?

The message is a Playfair cipher, which encrypts letter pairs using a five-by-five key square; Thomas Gates recognises it and burns the pages.

In Book of Secrets, the map points to which legendary lost city of gold?

Cibola, the legendary city of gold, turns out to lie hidden beneath Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills.

Clues in Book of Secrets are hidden in twin pieces of furniture known as what?

The Resolute desks were made from timbers of the British ship HMS Resolute; one of them sits in the Oval Office.

To obtain the secret Presidential book, Ben does what at a birthday party at Mount Vernon?

Ben kidnaps the President by luring him into a secret tunnel beneath Mount Vernon, where he asks about the Book of Secrets.

According to the sequel, which president had Mount Rushmore carved partly to hide a legendary site?

Calvin Coolidge, the film says, had Gutzon Borglum carve Mount Rushmore to erase landmarks pointing to the site; Coolidge really did dedicate the memorial in 1927.

Which Oscar-winning actress plays Ben's mother, Emily Appleton, in the sequel?

Helen Mirren, Best Actress winner for The Queen, plays Emily Appleton, Ben's estranged mother, opposite Jon Voight as Patrick.

The black-market villain of Book of Secrets, played by Ed Harris, is named what?

Mitch Wilkinson, played by Ed Harris, produces a lost page of the assassin's diary that implicates Thomas Gates, forcing Ben to clear the family name.

On which streaming service did the 2022 National Treasure spinoff series premiere?

Edge of History premiered on Disney+ in December 2022 and was cancelled after a single season.

The lead of Edge of History is Jess Valenzuela, a young woman living in which city?

She learns her late father was part of a secret network of treasure protectors.

Which Oscar winner plays Billie Pearce, the apparent antagonist of Edge of History?

Catherine Zeta-Jones plays Billie Pearce, a wealthy antiquities dealer competing with Jess for the lost treasure.

In the first film, Ben ultimately decides to protect the Declaration by doing what?

Ben settles on stealing it himself before Ian can, taking the Declaration during the gala preservation event so it never reaches the villains.

In National Treasure, the treasure passed from ancient times to the Founding Fathers via which order?

The Knights Templar, the film says, carried the treasure from the Holy Land to Europe, and the Freemasons later hid it in America.

As a boy in 1974, Ben first hears the treasure legend from whom?

His grandfather, John Adams Gates, tells young Ben the legend in 1974, while Ben's father Patrick dismisses the family obsession.

The actor who plays Ben Gates was born into which famous filmmaking family?

The Coppolas are his family: he was born a Coppola, nephew of director Francis Ford Coppola, and changed his surname to avoid accusations of nepotism.

The first film's clue 'Parkington Lane' turns out to refer to what?

Parkington Lane is a name on a tomb in the church's crypt; the team shifts the coffin to open the passage toward the treasure.

In Book of Secrets, Ben uses what technique to reveal traces of the cipher on the diary page?

Spectral imaging of the half-burned page reveals faint traces of the cipher letters left in the scorched paper.

In the sequel, Ben and Abigail sneak into which royal residence to reach a hidden clue?

Ben and Abigail stage a lovers' quarrel to get themselves detained inside Buckingham Palace, then slip into the Queen's office to recover a hidden clue.

The President tells Ben the Book of Secrets is hidden in which building?

The President says the Book of Secrets is kept in the Library of Congress, shelved under a code number among the restricted collections.

Abigail's new boyfriend in Book of Secrets, Connor, works as what?

Connor, played by Ty Burrell, is a White House curator, which Ben exploits to get himself and Abigail into the Oval Office.

In Book of Secrets, the clue plank is carved in which ancient language?

The wooden plank bears Olmec glyphs, which Emily Appleton, an expert in pre-Columbian languages, translates for Ben.

Ben Gates's actor won his Best Actor Oscar for which 1995 film?

Leaving Las Vegas, in which he plays an alcoholic screenwriter on a final bender in Las Vegas, won him the Best Actor Oscar; he was nominated again for Adaptation.

The sequel held its December premiere in which U.S. metropolis?

The New York premiere took place at Manhattan's Ziegfeld Theatre in mid-December; the film opened across North America on 21 December.

Who plays Jess Valenzuela, the lead of Edge of History?

Lisette Olivera, credited early on as Lisette Alexis, plays Jess Valenzuela, a DACA recipient who uncovers her family's link to a lost treasure.

Inside the Charlotte, the team finds an object that carries the next clue. What is it?

Its engravings send them to the Declaration.

Early in Book of Secrets, Riley's book signing ends when the IRS confiscates what?

The IRS seizes his Ferrari as Riley leaves a poorly attended signing for his book, having failed to pay tax on his share of the first treasure.

Fleeing the gala, Ben has to pay for the stolen Declaration where?

At the gift shop a cashier takes the real Declaration for a souvenir copy, so Ben buys it with his credit card, which later identifies him.

John Adams Gates, who tells young Ben the family legend in 1974, is played by which actor?

Christopher Plummer, the Sound of Music star, plays John Adams Gates only in the 1974 prologue; Hunter Gomez plays young Ben.

In Book of Secrets, Ben and Riley go to Paris to inspect a small copy of which monument?

The Paris replica of the Statue of Liberty carries an engraving that sends them on to Britain; the diary page had referenced Edouard de Laboulaye, who proposed the statue.

Ben and his father send Ian on a wild goose chase to which Boston landmark?

Patrick claims the lone lantern echoes Paul Revere's signal, sending Ian to Old North Church in Boston, where he is arrested breaking in.

Which Canadian actor plays the unnamed President of the United States in Book of Secrets?

Bruce Greenwood, the Canadian actor who also played JFK in Thirteen Days, plays the President, who ends up quietly helping Ben.

In Book of Secrets, what answer to 'the debt that all men pay' unlocks the diary cipher?

Death is the answer to the riddle Thomas Gates whispered with his dying breath; Ben uses it as the cipher keyword more than a century later.

Which country singer has a cameo performing at the Mount Vernon party in Book of Secrets?

Randy Travis performs at the Mount Vernon birthday party that serves as Ben's cover for getting the President alone.

Which California theme park's replica of a Philadelphia landmark stood in for the real building?

Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park has a full-size replica of the Philadelphia building, which doubled for the original in several shots.

Who composed the score for both National Treasure films?

Trevor Rabin, the former Yes guitarist, composed the score for National Treasure and for Book of Secrets.