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This National Treasure trivia quiz has 50 free questions with answers and covers the Disney treasure-hunt franchise: the 2004 original, the 2007 sequel Book of Secrets and the 2022 Disney+ series Edge of History. It takes in Benjamin Franklin Gates and the cast that plays around him, the map on the back of the Declaration of Independence, the Silence Dogood letters and Trinity Church, the Resolute desks and the President's Book of Secrets, the lost city of Cibola and Mount Rushmore, and the running jokes about Riley never getting his finder's fee. Early questions are for anyone who has seen the first film once. Later ones reward fans who can quote the ciphers and the clues. Use it for a family movie night, a history-class treat or a trivia round. Every answer has been checked against a documented source shown under the explanation.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which actor plays treasure hunter Benjamin Franklin Gates in National Treasure?
Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage plays Benjamin Franklin Gates in both National Treasure films, opposite Diane Kruger as Abigail Chase.
Q 02What liquid do Ben, Riley and Abigail use to reveal the invisible ink on the Declaration?
Lemon juice
Lemon juice, followed by heat from their breath, brings up the hidden Ottendorf cipher written in invisible ink on the back of the Declaration.
Q 03Which studio released National Treasure in 2004?
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures released National Treasure in November 2004, with Jerry Bruckheimer producing.
Q 04Who directed both National Treasure and its sequel?
Jon Turteltaub
Jon Turteltaub directed both National Treasure (2004) and Book of Secrets; Jerry Bruckheimer produced each film.
Q 05Which actor plays Ben's computer-expert sidekick Riley Poole?
Justin Bartha
Justin Bartha plays Riley Poole in both films and returned to the role for the 2022 series Edge of History.
Q 06What is the profession of Abigail Chase, played by Diane Kruger?
National Archives archivist
Abigail Chase is a National Archives archivist; Ben lifts her fingerprint from a champagne glass to get into the vault holding the Declaration.
Q 07Which actor plays Ian Howe, the financier who turns on Ben in the first film?
Sean Bean
Sean Bean plays Ian Howe, who bankrolls the expedition and then turns on Ben, becoming the first film's villain.
Q 08The first clue leads the team to the Charlotte, which turns out to be what?
A ship found in the Arctic
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.
Q 09To read the invisible map on the Declaration, Ben needs a pair of special spectacles hidden where?
In a brick at Independence Hall
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.
Q 10A key clue in the first film comes from which set of writings by Benjamin Franklin?
The Silence Dogood letters
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.
Q 11The treasure map trail finally leads to an underground chamber beneath which New York landmark?
Trinity Church
The trail ends beneath Trinity Church on Wall Street, where a lantern-lit dead end hides the way into the treasure chamber.
Q 12At the end of the first film, Ben turns down what, to Riley's annoyance?
A 10% finder's fee
Ben is offered a 10% finder's fee on the treasure but asks for just 1%, to Riley's lasting annoyance.
Q 13About how much did National Treasure gross worldwide?
$347 million
National Treasure grossed about $347 million worldwide on a budget of roughly $100 million, enough to green-light a sequel.
Q 21According to the sequel, which president had Mount Rushmore carved partly to hide a legendary site?
Calvin Coolidge
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.
Q 22Which Oscar-winning actress plays Ben's mother, Emily Appleton, in the sequel?
Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren, Best Actress winner for The Queen, plays Emily Appleton, Ben's estranged mother, opposite Jon Voight as Patrick.
Q 23The black-market villain of Book of Secrets, played by Ed Harris, is named what?
Mitch Wilkinson
Q 14Which veteran actor plays FBI agent Peter Sadusky in the National Treasure films?
Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel plays FBI agent Peter Sadusky, who chases Ben across the first film and returns in Book of Secrets.
Q 15In what year was the National Treasure sequel released?
2007
Book of Secrets opened in December 2007 and out-grossed the original worldwide, taking over $450 million.
Q 16Book of Secrets opens with a plot to clear a Gates ancestor accused of helping to kill which president?
Abraham Lincoln
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.
Q 17The coded message in the assassin's diary uses which type of encryption?
A Playfair cipher
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.
Q 18In Book of Secrets, the map points to which legendary lost city of gold?
Cibola
Cibola, the legendary city of gold, turns out to lie hidden beneath Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills.
Q 19Clues in Book of Secrets are hidden in twin pieces of furniture known as what?
The Resolute desks
The Resolute desks were made from timbers of the British ship HMS Resolute; one of them sits in the Oval Office.
Q 20To obtain the secret Presidential book, Ben does what at a birthday party at Mount Vernon?
Kidnaps the President
Ben kidnaps the President by luring him into a secret tunnel beneath Mount Vernon, where he asks about the Book of Secrets.
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.
Q 24On which streaming service did the 2022 National Treasure spinoff series premiere?
Disney+
Edge of History premiered on Disney+ in December 2022 and was cancelled after a single season.
Q 25The lead of Edge of History is Jess Valenzuela, a young woman living in which city?
Baton Rouge
She learns her late father was part of a secret network of treasure protectors.
Q 26Which Oscar winner plays Billie Pearce, the apparent antagonist of Edge of History?
Catherine Zeta-Jones
Catherine Zeta-Jones plays Billie Pearce, a wealthy antiquities dealer competing with Jess for the lost treasure.
Q 27In the first film, Ben ultimately decides to protect the Declaration by doing what?
Stealing it himself before Ian can
Ben settles on stealing it himself before Ian can, taking the Declaration during the gala preservation event so it never reaches the villains.
Q 28In National Treasure, the treasure passed from ancient times to the Founding Fathers via which order?
The Knights Templar
The Knights Templar, the film says, carried the treasure from the Holy Land to Europe, and the Freemasons later hid it in America.
Q 29As a boy in 1974, Ben first hears the treasure legend from whom?
His grandfather
His grandfather, John Adams Gates, tells young Ben the legend in 1974, while Ben's father Patrick dismisses the family obsession.
Q 30The actor who plays Ben Gates was born into which famous filmmaking family?
The Coppolas
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.