'National Treasure' to return as series minus Nic Cage

Actor Nicolas Cage won't be attached to the series, with plans to introduce a younger cast.

After getting success with two films released in 2004 and 2007, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, in an interview to Collider, revealed that there are two new projects in development based on the franchise, reports dailymail.co.uk.

There is a third feature film in the pipeline too, besides the television series for Disney+ platform.

"We're certainly working on one (‘National Treasure') for streaming and we're working on one for the big screen," said Bruckheimer.

"Hopefully, they'll both come together and we'll bring you another ‘National Treasure', but they're both very active," the 76-year-old continued.

On the series, he said: "The one for Disney Plus is a much younger cast… It's the same concept but a young cast."

The idea opens up the potential to explore the origins of Cage's central character, Benjamin Franklin Gates with a prequel, or revamp the franchise with a new story.

The first movie "National Treasure" came out in 2004, with a follow-up "National Treasure: Book Of Secrets" releasing in 2007. It narrates the adventure of Gates as an explorer, cryptologist, treasure hunter who is on a mission to uncover the secrets and treasures hidden in the world.

The films also starred Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, Jon Voight and Harvey Keitel, with Helen Mirren joining for the sequel.

While the third part of the film already has an IMDb page, no big names are attached to the project yet. Its status is currently listed as treatment/outline.

Talking about the third part, Bruckheimer said: "The film version is being written right now. The television version is in process. We have a pilot script done and an outline of the future episodes."

He stressed that the third feature film "for theatrical (release) would be the same cast".