It feels like it’s been a long time since we last saw Catherine Zeta-Jones in movies, and indeed you have to go back to 2016’s adaptation of classic British sitcom ‘Dad’s Army’ to find a credit.
That streak doesn’t appear to be ending soon, but she has at least joined a new TV project that is connected to a movie series: Zeta-Jones will be one of the leads on the Disney+ ‘National Treasure’ spin-off series.
And talking of something we haven’t seen in theaters for a long time, the ‘National Treasure’ franchise hasn’t produced a movie since 2007 sequel ‘Book of Secrets’, which was the last time Nicolas Cage’s Benjamin Franklin Gates was running around trying to track down some historical artifact and crack a mystery.
The ‘National Treasure’ movies have always been oddities for Disney – they didn’t grab the best reviews, but the box office was solid enough, as audiences enjoyed the likes of Cage, Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, Jon Voight, and Helen Mirren solving clues and finding themselves under threat from baddies who wanted what they were hunting.
Talk of a third film has lingered for years, but never made it past the script stage despite the efforts of producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Jon Turteltaub.
In the last couple of years, though, they turned their attention to the small screen, and Disney+’s ever-present hunger for new content, especially if it’s tied to recognizable stories and titles.
Bruckheimer and Turteltaub are executive producers here, working alongside writers Marianne and Cormac Wibberley, who worked on both movies and have crafted the pilot for the series.
Mira Nair will direct that first episode, which swaps the focus from Cage’s character to young heroine Jess Morales (Lisette Alexis) — a DREAMer in search of answers about her family — who embarks on the adventure of a lifetime to uncover the truth about the past and save a lost Pan-American treasure.
Zeta-Jones, who won an Oscar for her performance in ‘Chicago’, will play Billie, a billionaire, black-market antiquities expert, and treasure hunter who lives by her own code. She transformed herself from a penniless orphan to a shrewd, stylish businesswoman and adventurer. Billie’s used to getting what she wants; and she wants the Pan-American treasure. But not just for the money. This treasure has deeper stakes for her.
Alongside the lead pair, the cast also includes Lyndon Smith (as Agent Ross, an FBI agent who aids Jess), Zuri Reed (as Jess’ best friend Tasha), Jake Austin Walker (as a handsome struggling musician with a treasure hunting lineage), Antonio Cipriano (as a goofball conspiracy theorist) and Jordan Rodrigues (as another friend of Jess who also carries a torch for her).
Billie sounds like a good match for Zeta-Jones, especially since it gives us 1999 thriller ‘Entrapment’, though this show will probably feature fewer catsuits and awkward flirting with Sean Connery.
‘National Treasure’ the series has a 10-episode first season order already and will start filming episodes in Baton Rouge this month.
17492
