National Treasure TV series with younger cast in the works

A TV series based on Nicolas Cage's National Treasure franchise is in development at Disney+ with a younger cast, producer Jerry Bruckheimer has confirmed.

The original movie series starred Cage as Benjamin Franklin Gates, a historian and self-taught cryptologist who hunts for long-lost treasure through clues found in American historical artefacts. The film, directed by Jon Turteltaub, was released in 2004 and spawned a sequel, 2007's National Treasure: Book of Secrets.

Now, Bruckheimer has confirmed that both a streaming series and a third film are in the works.

"We're certainly working on one for streaming and we're also working on one for the big screen," he told Collider. "So, hopefully, they'll both come together and we'll bring you another National Treasure, but they're both very active."

Bruckheimer then explained the new Disney+ series will share "the same concept" as the films, but is designed with "a much younger cast" in mind.

"The television version is in process," the Top Gun: Maverick producer continued. "We have, I think, a pilot script done and an outline of the future episodes."

The news comes months after Bruckheimer and bosses at Disney announced they were moving forward with National Treasure 3, with Bad Boys for Life screenwriter Chris Bremner attached to pen the script.

He added the National Treasure 3 is currently being written with "the same cast" as the previous films in mind.

Meanwhile, Cage is set to portray Joe Exotic, the subject of the hit Netflix docuseries Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness, in an upcoming eight-episode series from Imagine Television Studios and CBS Television Studios.