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thenationaltreasuregazette · 3 months

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The 2003 Script, Act 1

Welcome! To the long-awaited deep dive on the 2003 script.

This will be the beginning of a series recapping the major differences, and similarities, between the 2003 script and the final film.

To refresh your memory, on ye olde internet you can find an earlier version of the National Treasure script from April 2003, and it is a wild ride. In a previous post, I looked at where it falls in the chain of development, who was involved, and how to understand this script as a production artifact.

The short version: it’s about 80% there.

The major beats are clear

All the characters exist in recognizable form

Nicolas Cage signed on as the lead one month later

All the major creative voices had gotten their fingers in the pie by this point

And yet as recognizable as this is as National Treasure, it’s a version of National Treasure from another dimension.

I’d like to go through it, summarize the major differences, and see what we can uncover.

→ I should also note that I basically agree with all of the changes that were made between this script and the final film. All of them serve to tighten and enhance the story, make the characters more nuanced, and make the story more subtle and rich. That’s not to say that this script shouldn’t have existed—just the opposite. I think this version needed to exist in order to get the creative team to the final film. I’m glad this isn’t the film that was shot, but I love this as a window into the process.

ACT 1

FADE IN:

No Baby Ben yet; we jump right into the legend of the treasure.

→ It’s longer and more detailed, including the fact that Andrew Jackson already knew Charles Carroll’s story about the treasure and didn’t believe it.

The story is being told by JOHN ADAMS GATES, who’s in a nursing home, not in his attic, to YOUNG BEN.

Ben shows his treasure hunting potential by suggesting that Charlotte could be an anagram, then promises more directly that he’ll find Charlotte. PATRICK is just as disgruntled as in the final.

CUT TO:

It’s just BEN and RILEY in the snowcat, named The Endeavor. Ben is in his

(late 20s, strong family resemblance.)

Riley is

(25, unkempt)

They’re searching with ground penetrating radar, get a hit, and discover the figurehead’s face in the ice. Then they radio base camp for Ian and the gang to join them.

We learn that Riley is the one who convinced Ian to fund the expedition.

→ My sense in the final film is that Ben and Ian brought Riley in together, and Riley was the last to join.

Shaw thinks the find is too small to be the ship they’re looking for, and Ben explains that it’s tilted, hence the smaller footprint.

But don’t worry, they won’t have to dig it out because...

...the Charlotte is trapped in an air pocket/ice cave.

The Ben, Ian, then Riley repel down into the cave.

Ben tricks Ian into searching the hold, and Riley into searching the berthing quarters while he searches the Captain’s Cabin.

→ Ben’s cleverness is emphasized a lot more early on in this version. He’s both able to think outside the box (as with the tilted ship) and able to manipulate people, including Ian, to get what he wants. Honestly I think he comes off as kind of a jackass. He's more like the Ben we see in Book of Secrets—a self-righteous know-it-all.

Under the Captain's desk, Ben finds a trap door that leads to the storeroom full of gunpowder. The Captain guarding one barrel, the meerschaum pipe, and the first riddle remain the same.

It’s different dialogue, but Ben works out the clue in a similar manner, minus the comedic stylings of Riley and Shaw found in the final.

Ian draws a gun with a literal, “Oh, you didn’t bring one of these?”

IAN Oh, you didn't bring one of these?

→ I'm not kidding he actually says this.

After the same stunt Ben pulls with the flare, only this time with a lighter, Ian opens fire on Ben and Riley.

→ In this version, Shaw is not in this scene to be Ian’s muscle. I think that was an important distinction the final film made, that Shaw does the dirty work and Ian stays one step removed. It differentiates their character functions and it helps Ian feel more intelligent and slick. He’s not just a wealthy thug, he’s the puppet master who pulls other people’s strings. I think that sets him up to be a more formidable antagonist, and a better foil for Ben.

Rather than riding out the explosion in the smugglers hold, Ben and Riley have to break down the hold door and use a harpoon gun to break out of the ice cave since Ian and Co pulled up the ropes.

All the while, Riley is complaining that he should have taken the job at Intel.

RILEY Intel offered me a job with my own cubicle. BEN Do we have to go over this every expedition? RILEY Until I get rich, yes. Ben wheels the harpoon around and aims it at Riley's head. BEN Fine. Now, duck!

They jump into the Endeavor just before the Charlotte blows…

…and go flying off a GLACIAL CLIFF.

Don’t worry, it floats.

→ This sequence gives you a taste of the level of action that will be present throughout the script (which is something a good opening should do.) By comparison, the final National Treasure feels fairly (and I recognize that this seems insane to say but...) mundane. I know that seems wild, cuz the premise of the movie is still ridiculous, but there was a significant toning-down of the action between versions, and I think that was the right choice. In this script, everything is so heightened that stealing the Declaration of Independence doesn’t seem like so big of a deal. Everything is a big deal. Everything is a daring, dangerous action scene. By toning down the action elsewhere, 1. we save budget, and that probably had a lot to do with these choices. But also 2. the story is able to put more contrast between both the life Ben normally lives and his decision to steal the Declaration, and between his belief in the treasure and everyone else’s reality. When everything is already James Bond levels of action for everyone, is a heist really that surprising?

Washington D.C.

Ben and Riley view the Declaration at the National Archives. They also see Ian and Shaw casing the place.

→ There's no "If Ian tries to steal it...." We know for certain that he's planning to. It sounds like that should add tension but it actually doesn't. More on that in part 2.

Back at Ben’s apartment, Ben gives a pocket watch he found on The Charlotte to his LANDLADY, who laments that he can’t keep a girlfriend.

→ While I like this moment showing that Ben is thoughtful (and also kind of pathetic if his landlady is the only one he as to give gifts like this to), I think the choice to isolate him further in the final film is the stronger one. He has literally no one he can turn to other than Riley and his dad.

For more about Ben as a loner and the changes to his character from the 2003 script to the film, see here.

At the Library of Congress, Ben lays out his plan of how he thinks Ian is going to steal the Declaration. They haven’t tried to tell anyone at the FBI, National Archives, or anywhere else yet.

In this version, it takes two minutes for the Declaration to be lowered into its vault, and that’s when its most vulnerable. Ben suspects Ian will create some external chaos that will force the Declaration to be lowered automatically when the guards aren’t there. No Preservation Room required (or mentioned.)

Riley is not trying to talk Ben out of anything, because Ben doesn’t reveal he’s thinking of stealing it himself until part way through this scene.

When he does, Riley is like “nuh-uh” and proposes an alternative.

That’s when the meeting with ABIGAIL happens and Riley does the talking because Ben will "make the whole thing sound crazy."

RILEY No, this is my idea. You’ll try to make it sound crazy.

SIDEBAR ON RILEY - He is by far the character who is most different here than in the final film. Let's do a separate article to unpack that.

ABIGAIL, by the way, is

bookishly beautiful, 26.

She and Riley go back and forth for a bit while Ben is distracted with Abigail’s GW button collection. Then Ben jumps in to spar with Abigail on historical knowledge (she doesn’t miss a beat). She makes the crack about Bigfoot, and realizes they’re treasure hunters.

Abigail is much more direct in telling the guys what she thinks of them:

ABIGAIL We have a very sophisticated security system designed to stop crazy people like yourselves from getting near it.

When they leave, Ben gives fake names for both him and Riley: Paul Brown and Tom Jeffries. In the hallway after the meeting, Ben explains that the fake names are to buy time when the feds start investigating the theft.

He’s also wiping his hands with a handkerchief, because he ALREADY HAD THE UV INK on his hands to shake Abigail’s hand at the meeting.

RILEY You knew we were going to do this all along, didn't you? BEN I was hoping she would believe us so we wouldn't have to.

→ Even if he thought it was a longshot, I like it so much better that in the final movie Ben is looking to Abigail as his last chance before making a desperate decision, not as a formality that he has to get through before he can do what he already wants to do (steal the Declaration.) And for their relationship, it’s important to me that they’re in that meeting on equal footing. He doesn’t already have UV ink on his hands because he’s already planning to screw her over. Like yikes. In that version, they should not end up together because none of the trust-building that’s so key to their relationship is actually real.

There’s also more emphasis placed on how the Declaration will always be in danger until the treasure is found. It's less about only stopping Ian and more about ensuring no one has a reason to ever think about stealing it again.

→ So let’s talk about dominoes. All the major dominoes that exist in the final film exist here, but in a slightly different order. And again, I think the changes made from this script to the final helped to strengthen the story considerably. In this script, Ian threatens to steal the Declaration, Ben reveals he’s already planning to steal it instead, and Riley attempts to make the theft unnecessary by talking to Abigail. Ben doesn’t believe this will work, and he’s already putting the pieces of his heist in motion. In the finished movie, Ian threatens to steal the Declaration, and Ben exhausts every avenue to stop him without getting involved himself. It’s his decision to talk to Abigail, and she’s his last hope. It’s only after she refuses that we see Ben make the decision to steal the Declaration himself. In the 2003 script, Ben seems like he was already ready and willing to steal the Declaration of Independence. He jumps right in. It’s not a hard choice for him to make, and in fact, he seems like he kind of wants to do it. Like he was just waiting for an excuse. He doesn’t try any other options first, and in the one alternative plan that Riley makes him try, he has so little faith that it will work that he’s already putting his heist in motion before that attempt is even done. Hell, we don't even see him make the decision on screen. That paints Ben as self-righteous and a little too gung-ho about this whole heist business. Here he doesn’t seem like a treasure protector; he seems a lot like Ian actually—someone willing to do anything for the quest with very little provocation. In the final film, Ben is pushed into stealing it by exhausting every other option first. We see the institutional walls he keeps running into, which are absent in the 2003 script. We understand that this was his last resort. It also makes his interaction with Abigail feel more genuine. He’s actually trying to connect with her, and taking the lead to defend his own theory rather than letting Riley do it. Then, once he’s decided to steal it, that’s when we go to the Library of Congress so Riley can try to talk him out of it. In the film, Ben is presented as someone who wanted any other option first, but then once he gets backed into a corner, his conviction is set and he won’t be deterred. That’s someone we can root for! That’s an underdog who nobody believes, and who is willing to put his freedom on the line for something he cares about! He and Riley also have multiple discussions about whether Ben should do this, and what it means if he does or doesn’t. In short, it feels like a momentous decision, because Ben has to be pushed repeatedly before he makes it, then spends multiple scenes digesting it and discussing if it’s even possible. In the script, he seems like a guy who decided to steal the Declaration almost as quickly as Ian did, and who will only half-heartedly consider other possibilities. He comes on screen already having a plan, and he doesn’t seem to think it will be that hard. In this version it does not feel like a momentous decision, and that’s a lot less sympathetic.

→ Next time, Act 2!

#the national treasure gazette #national treasure #the 2003 script #ben gates #riley poole #ian howe #abigail chase

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