Justin Bartha, who played Riley in the National Treasure movies, will reprise his role in the upcoming Disney Plus series. Starring Nicolas Cage and Diane Krueger, the National Treasure films were rip-roaring adventure movies that married interesting historical facts with action-packed bombast.
While the two films we got were popular amongst a certain generation, the lacklustre response to the second film, Book of Secrets meant plans for a third movie were quietly shelved. The book seemed closed on the franchise until May 2020 when producer Jerry Bruckheimer announced plans for a National Treasure TV series featuring a younger new cast.
In March 2021, Disney announced it was moving forward with the series, hiring Marianne and Cormac Wibberley to write the show. It’s reported that the series will follow Jess Morales, a 20-year-old woman that “sets off on an exploration to discover the mystery of her family history, and with the help of her friends seeks to recover a historical lost treasure.” Sounds like a National Treasure story to us.
Casting announcements followed later in 2021 with Lisette Alexi being announced as the show’s lead. In January 2022, more casting news broke with Lyndon Smith, Antonio Cipriano, Zuri Reed, Jake Austin Walker, and Jordan Rodrigues all confirmed to star.
The big news however was that Catherine Zeta-Jones would be joining the cast as a character called Billie although no other details followed.
It’s believed that Bartha will only be guest starring on the show, but it does possibly open the door for other cameos. I wonder if Cage and Krueger might be interested?