The huge box office success of the 2004 action adventure film National Treasure didn't necessarily guarantee there would be a sequel. Actor Nicolas Cage isn't known for reprising roles, however there was something very appealing about stepping back into the shoes of adventurer Benjamin Franklin Gates. And as far as Nicolas Cage's concerned, if audiences fill theaters for National Treasure: Book of Secrets, he won't mind returning for a third National Treasure movie.

The second National Treasure film finds Ben having to protect his great-great grandfather's reputation when he's linked to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

Nicolas Cage Press Conference:

What was the criteria for you to sign onto this project? What sets this sequel apart from the original film?
“You may be aware that I’ve not done a sequel before, and the reason being that, generally speaking, I never like to repeat myself. In this case, I do believe that if you’re going to do a sequel, it has to promise to be better than the original - or at least as good. Largely, the fear with sequels is that people get lazy. They realize they have a winner and then they just throw money at it and they don’t care. Fortunately, working with John Turteltaub, in particular, he really cares about the story. I wanted to make sure that we could go in a direction that would raise the stakes, and also hopefully be more interesting.

When they first presented the idea of Civil War, Confederate gold, John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln assassination, right off the bat, for me, personally, that was more interesting, historically.

I was excited by that. Then they said, ‘We have to ratchet it up from stealing the Declaration of Independence, so we thought you should kidnap the President of the United States.’ And then I said, ‘Whoa, hold on, new rules. How is Ben Gates going to kidnap the President of the United States?’ And I got nervous. Then I started thinking about it and I started laughing. I realized that that was the joy of it, that it was funny and it was absurd. When they cast Bruce Greenwood, I realized that there would be a level of believability because he looks Kennedy-esque. And, at the same time, he has a terrific gift for comedy. He would be able to embrace that Commedia dell’arte, if you will.

To me, Book of Secrets is like a movie unto itself. When you change the treasure, you change the whole story. You get new clues that are historically accurate and you get new locations, just the actors and the characters stay the same. So, having been a fan of Basil Rathbone and Sherlock Holmes, I thought, ‘Why not bring Ben Gates back as a modern version, if you will, an archeological version of a detective looking for [a way to unlock] the mysteries of these treasures?’ It seemed wonderfully positive. If John Turteltaub has a genius, it’s that he’s made movies without a gun that are entertaining, and you can take the whole family. There’s worse things to do than to inspire especially the youngsters to look in their history books. So I thought, ‘Let’s go. Let’s do it.’ So, I did it, and I’m happy I did it.”

What has been your experience having young fans since the first National Treasure?
“Children, to me, are of the utmost importance. They’re really the future, aren’t they? So I want to treat that carefully. I’m one of those people that believes that the power of film is intense, and you have to really think about it, responsibly. In this case, you want them to enjoy themselves with mom and dad, or the whole family, and also get them to look in their history books in a way that isn’t, ‘Oh, you must read and you must learn.’ It helps them to enjoy the ride even more because there’s a level of believability to it. You wonder, ‘Wow, why are there missing pages in the Booth diary?’ Then you go see the movie and you can use a little imagination, and it makes the ride more enjoyable.

I’m always thinking about the kids, if I make that sort of movie. Even with Ghost Rider, I was thinking about the kids. Walt Disney, for me, is a magnificent hero of sorts because he was probably the most influential artist of our time. He was such an influence that we don’t even think of him, sometimes, as a human being. He did this amazing stuff. He took these great classic stories like Pinocchio and Beauty and the Beast later, and Snow White and made them accessible to children. With Ghost Rider, I was trying to do the one story he never did, probably for obvious reasons, which was Faust. I wanted to make that something where kids could go, ‘Well, yeah, this is really just a myth.’ We’re all going to get in trouble, so how do you get past that? So, I was thinking about them there too.”

Did you want to do something new with the character, since this is the first time you’ve played the same character a second time?
“My first question to Jerry Bruckheimer was, ‘It’s been three years. I’m not the same guy. How am I going to go back and do Ben Gates?’ And he said, ‘That’s it. The character has changed.’ And, the response I got at Disney was that I seem lighter and I’m smiling more and I’m happier. I think the weight has been taken off of the character. He’s been accepted academically. He’s not considered a wacko anymore, like he was in the first movie, and so he feels happier.”

Would you mind doing a third National Treasure if all of the elements are right?
“With National Treasure, I believe that it should become more and more International Treasure. I was very happy to see that we went to London, England and Paris, France, but I’d like to see the movie go wider still. I’d like to go into Africa, Egypt, Asia, and keep going. My hope is that Ben is recruited and he gets a dossier from these other countries about their history, and has to download it and learn it, and then try to go on these hunts on their behalf. That would be a lot of fun for me.”

Page 2:On Ancestors, Helen Mirren and Ed Harris, and Challenging Scenes