After 15 years on hiatus, Disney’s National Treasure franchise returns with a Baton Rouge-set streaming series, National Treasure: Edge of History, written and produced by the same team behind the original duology.
The Disney+ show, shot primarily at Celtic Studios, Louisiana’s largest dedicated film studio, reunites husband and wife screenwriting duo Cormac and Marianne Wibberley with executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer.
The Wibberleys wanted to find a location for their new story focusing on underrepresented history. Toying around with filming in New Orleans and Florida, the team ultimately settled on Baton Rouge, which the Wibberleys described as “Washington-esque” in its historicism.
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“It’s mentioned in so many songs, Baton Rouge,” Cormac told 225 at a press set visit this summer. “There’s this mythical thing about Baton Rouge [and] people don’t know what it is.”
The Wibberleys also wanted to depict Baton Rouge as itself, something not often seen in productions coming to the city.
Using local icons like Squeaky Pete’s bar during production, the series is “a tour of Baton Rouge, a love letter” to the city, Marianne says.
A theme of underrepresentation and celebration extends into the main character the Wibberleys wrote to take over for Nicholas Cage’s Ben Gates as the franchise’s lead.
Lead actress Lisette Olivera portrays Jess Valenzuela, a brilliant and resourceful DREAMer, who over the course of the series, races against a black-market antiquities dealer, portrayed by Catherine Zeta-Jones, to uncover the mysterious connections her family has with a lost Pan-American treasure.
“It’s nice to be able to see a different experience of what the American Dream is,” Olivera says. “Because to me, I would associate a DREAMer to the American experience because you see young individuals who never had the choice to come to this country and to have the ability to contribute to society.”
According to Marianne, Jess’s arc shows what it means to be an American citizen from the outside and the big decisions young people make in trying to find their way in the world.
“I’ve always wanted to play a character that my younger cousins could watch,” Olivera says. “She has such a big heart and operates through so much passion, and to see my culture represented in a way that feels true to me, it’s really important and I know it will be for so many.”
Growing up with the original films, Olivera has vivid memories of watching National Treasure: Book of Secrets, frustrated at the writers for killing off Ed Harris’s character. Now, 15 years later, she is acting from a script from the same writing duo.
“I’ve been a very big fan since I was very young, so it’s very full circle to be on the set now and be part of this franchise and to meet the Wibberleys and to have a newfound family in a [series] I appreciated so much when I was younger,” Olivera says.
Cage may not be returning, but the Wibberleys say the new series is still firmly set in the National Treasure universe, with Harvey Keitel and Justin Bartha returning as Peter Sadusky and Riley Poole, respectively, in supporting roles. The pair act as connection to the franchise’s past, with artifacts from the films, like Benjamin Franklin’s glasses, featured prominently in their scenes.
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The Wibberleys also hope that the new series can recapture the imagination and adventurous tone that fans like Olivera remember from the original films, while creating something original and fun that new audiences will enjoy, featuring a much different landscape full of effects-heavy super heroics.
Regardless of the technological updates, though, Comac says one main component remains the same: “It’s old fashioned storytelling.”
National Treasure: Edge of History debuts on Disney+ on Wednesday, Dec. 14, with new episodes every Wednesday.