National Treasure - Press Archive

National Treasure - Press Archive - Hollywood Reporter

Source: Hollywood Reporter

09 Sep 2003

Bartha Wins 'Treasure' Hunt for Disney

By Chris Gardner

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Justin Bartha has nabbed the coveted

lead role opposite Nicolas Cage (news) in the Walt Disney Co.'s "National

Treasure" for director Jon Turteltaub and producer Jerry Bruckheimer, sources

have confirmed.

The project -- based on an idea by Turteltaub, Disney marketing chief Oren

Aviv and Charles Segers -- is a caper story about a secret code in the U.S.

Constitution that reveals the whereabouts of a treasure buried during the

1700s.

Cage plays an archaeologist-historian on the hunt for the treasure, with

Bartha playing Riley Poole, the best friend of Cage's character. Diane Kruger

also stars as a Smithsonian Museum worker.

In addition to a role in "Gigli," Bartha's credits include the upcoming Sidney

Lumet (news)-directed HBO project "Strip Search."