During the first day of SDCC, one of the panels held by Disney+ was to showcase its upcoming (and anticipated) new series National Treasure: Edge of History. Based on the adventure movies from 2004 and 2007 starring Nicolas Cage (The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent), the series will continue to center around treasure hunters who discover secrets hidden in historical works of art. The panel unveiled a featurette which provided both a first look and behind-the-scenes footage from the new show.
The first and most important information revealed by the featurette is that fans of the National Treasure film series won’t be disappointed, since the TV show – which works as a soft reboot – is keeping all the elements that made the movies special: The mystery that invites viewers to try to figure out along with the characters, the fun, and the fast-paced adventure that jumps from location to location with plenty of twists.
The panel added another important information: Justin Bartha isn’t the only familiar face we’ll be seeing when the series premieres. Academy Award nominee Harvey Keitel (Pulp Fiction) is reprising his role as Peter Sadusky, and will be featured as a guest star. In the original movies, Sadusky was an FBI special agent who was also a Freemason – which prompted him to help Benjamin Gates (Cage) to uncover historical secrets. Now, it’s possible that Sadusky maintains the same position and serves as a type of antihero in the series as well.
In addition, returning cast member Bartha revealed in the featurette that what makes National Treasure: Edge of History more fun is that we are obviously in a different world from the early aughts, and now technology plays an even bigger part in breaking down the story’s secrets. Last but not least, series villain Catherine Zeta-Jones (The Mask of Zorro) comments on how she is a fan of the movies, and teases that her character will play a cat-and-mouse game with the group of explorers, meaning that they’ll do their best to stay one step ahead of each other during the adventure.
National Treasure: Edge of History is being directed by Mira Nair (Vanity Fair), with scripts from Marianne and Cormac Wibberly, who also wrote the original films. Jon Turtletaub, the director from the original films, returns as executive producer along with Jerry Bruckheimer. The cast also features Lisette Olivera, Jordan Rodrigues, Zuri Reed, Jake Austin Walker, Antonio Cipriano, Lyndon Smith, and Jacob Vargas.
Disney+ is yet to announce a release window for National Treasure: Edge of History. You can watch the featurette below: