The long and agonizing wait is over. Disney’s 2004 hit National Treasure is now finally available for streaming on Disney+.
Due to a deal with Netflix, the popular Nicolas Cage film has been absent on Disney’s new streaming service since it launched late last year. Even more frustrating for longtime fans and new viewers of the series, the 2007 sequel National Treasure: Book of Secrets has been watchable all along as everyone patiently awaited this moment. This obviously left a big gap in the story for anyone who watched the followup on Disney+ but didn’t check out the original on Netflix.
National Treasure sees Nicolas Cage cast as Benjamin Franklin Gates, a historian and cryptologist who believes that the Freemasons hid a very special clue on the back of the Declaration of Independence. He sets off to steal the document, uncover the truth, and become the first person to discover – you guessed it – the most important national treasure of all time.
Other popular actors also star alongside Cage in the film, including Jon Voight, Sean Bean and Diane Kruger. Even Christopher Plummer shows up in the beginning of the movie as Gates’ grandfather, John Adams Gates. Much of the star-studded cast return in the sequel, too, which adds such popular names as Helen Mirren and Ed Harris to the roster.
Both films did relatively poorly with critics, with the original earning a meager 46% on Rotten Tomatoes and the sequel scoring even lower at 36%. Still, they’ve remained a massive hit among audiences and are considered classic adventures that most everyone should watch at some point. Even better for fans, a third film in the franchise is expected to eventually surface, with the most recent update in January indicating that a new script was being written.
Time will tell if the third National Treasure pic ever comes to fruition, but in the meantime, at least you can finally watch the original two on Disney+ right away.
