Interview: Director Jon Turteltaub

A couple weeks back, director Jon Turteltaub was kind enough to sit down and discuss the making of National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets with an assemblage of us media types, in anticipation of the film’s DVD and Blu-ray release. We found him to be extremely open and forthcoming, as you will soon see. Enjoy!

Q: Is it harder to create an original film or a sequel?

JT: Sequels are actually much easier! If you look at the slate of films coming out of most of the studios, they’re all filled with sequels. The marketplace is such that you need to have a big opening weekend, and the best way to do that is to have a movie that audiences already have shown an interest in. The problem is that sequels cost more. That’s the biggest issue in the movie business today — Cost. It’s stupid how expensive it is. On the other hand, the revolution in digital technology has been a big plus for movies. We can do so much more than ever before to make movies more fun, more entertaining, and more believable.

Q: What’s the secret to a successful sequel?

JT: To be able to accurately judge exactly what it was about the first movie that the audience liked. It can be deceptive and you can fool yourself. In our case, we believed that the most important element of the first National Treasure was the relationships between the characters. Obviously, the use of real history and real landmarks in the search for fictional treasure is the main concept… but what made the movie standout was the humor and warmth shared by the characters. So we made sure to get the entire cast back together and build on those relationships.

Q: It was reported early on that shooting script was extremely long and complex. What did you wind up cutting out in the editing room to make it work?

JT: We knew the story was too long and too complex the moment we realized that our script was 180 pages long. That’s 60 pages longer than a script should be. Not surprisingly, the first cut of the movie was close to four hours long! So, we basically cut out an entire movie’s worth of material. That’s not fun… but the DVD people LOVE it because they get more deleted scenes.

Q: Because the story deals with real events and locations, how much of an obligation did you feel to honor the truth?

JT: This is really a big issue when making any movie, but particularly difficult when doing the National Treasure movies. Personally, staying true to the history is everything for me. That’s the puzzle. How do we take these historical truths and wrap a modern-day fiction around them? What we found is that whenever we made up historical facts it made the scenes feel fake, but when we stuck to the real history, things worked more believably. I also think that these movies are trying to honor history and encourage people to embrace learning about all of these things. If we make facts up, it feels to me like cheating.

Q: There are moments where real history looks fictional and fictional elements seem all too real. Did you encounter any problems with the mix?

JT: I LOVE THIS QUESTION!!!! I can’t tell you how many times we have been criticized or attacked for making things up that were actually true! We even had reviewers condemn us for “making a mockery of history by creating stories for our own benefit” that were actually completely true stories. Truth IS stranger than fiction sometimes.

Q: Did you enjoy history as a kid?

JT: I was a lot more into history than I was into history classes. I don’t think any of us like sitting in a classroom when there are other options available. But I did enjoy enjoy history a lot. I’ve always thought that if I had a time machine that could go either forward in time or back in time, I’d want to go back. I’m always fascinated by what REALLY happened. I’m always interested in understanding how we all got to this point in our lives. What were the mistakes of the past and what were the great decisions? History holds the answers to all our current problems. We just need to learn from it.

Q: Did you have a team of researchers developing story elements, or was it the screenwriters doing the legwork?

JT: The writers definitely do most of the work. However, we definitely need to rely on a wide range of people to keep us on the right track. For the action sequences, break-ins, kidnappings and things like that, we use security and mililtary experts. Often, we’ll turn to professional law enforcement or government experts and say to them things like, “We need to kidnap the President, how would YOU do it?” Then, they lay out a plan for us. For the historical information, I rely heavily on the tour guides and park rangers that take us through the locations. In one day I can learn more from the Native American elders who teach at Mt. Rushmore than I can from many of the books I’ve read.

Q: How long was the writing process?

JT: It SHOULD take years. Unfortunately, we pulled off Book of Secrets in eleven months. The first National Treasure took almost seven years to write. But on the sequel, we were writing and shooting all at the same time. It’s a miracle that we finished. If we were better and smarter filmmakers, we would have spent more time finishing the script, then spent about six months preparing, another five months filming, and another five months editing.

Q: What locations were the most and least problematic to shoot?

JT: Without question, shooting on the streets of London was an enormous undertaking. As many of you already know, just WALKING on the streets of London is difficult. There are an enormous number of rules, regulations, departments, governments and laws that had to be obeyed for us to pull off that car chase and I’m very impressed with our production team who had the determination and the patience to pull it off. Surprisingly, one of the easiest places to shoot was Mt. Vernon. While they were very protective of the landmark home of George Washington, they were also a private organization without connections to the government. So it was only a matter of one or two people who had to say “yes” to our requests.

Q: Was it complicated to gain access to these historical sites?

JT: This movie was much easier than the first because on this movie they had already seen the first National Treasure and they knew that we were legitimate and we were celebrating these historical sites, not mocking them. But every location has surprises for a production crew. For instance, the biggest fear the governments had wasn’t that we would damage the landmarks, it was that we would interfere with the tourists who had the right to be there as well.

Q: Have your received any feedback from teachers regarding a change in attitude towards history?

JT: We have had an amazing response from teachers across the world. Many use the films in their classes. I’m not sure I should be so proud of this, but my movies are shown in more history classes than film classes. Oh well. The other great response we’ve gotten is from the historical sites themselves. Attendance is WAY up at the places we featured in the movies. That means that the public is becoming more interested in history and we’re proud of that.

Q: Is the Federal Government giving you kickbacks for boosting tourism?

JT: Last time I checked, the government spends its energy TAKING money. What government GIVES money? In fact, not only didn’t they give us money they charged us a lot to shoot at some of these locations. Someone has to pay the park rangers, the security staff, and the police to work overtime and it’s certainly not going to be the taxpayers. However, while there can be a lot of problems… once they realized that we were not out to condemn our country’s history but to romanticize it… they were much more supportive.

Q: Given that Mt. Rushmore was prominently featured in Hitchcock’s North by Northwest, was it challenging to come up with new ways to utilize it here?

JT: I’m surprised at how rarely anyone asks this question. I went back and watched North by Northwest several times and realized that the sequence on Mt. Rushmore was so remarkable and so well-known that we had to just avoid sending the characters onto the sculpted heads completely. But in doing so, we discovered the lakes nearby and the caves that exist in the area… which led us to the sequences we created for the movie.

Q: What sequences were you most excited to shoot?

JT: I loved shooting all the final scenes in the water. I’d never done that before and I had no idea how or if it was going to work. But the special effects people did such a brilliant job, along with the set construction people, to make it all possible. It turned out that it’s really fun to spend an entire week floating around in a gigantic pool, wearing a wet suit, swimming across the set to talk to the actors, and shouting “action” only to see millions of gallons of water shoot out from the magnificent sets. And the answer to your next question is “no, I didn’t pee in the pool.”

Q: What do you account for this renewed interest in the treasure hunt genre?

JT: I’m not sure why but there is a revival. Perhaps it’s just the cyclical nature of the movie business. When we made the first National Treasure, there hadn’t been a good old-fashioned treasure hunt movie in fifteen years. Maybe everything old is new again. But between National Treasure, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Indy, it shows that audiences still like the old-fashioned adventures.

Q: How do you respond to the comparisons made between these two films and The Da Vinci Code?

JT: How do I answer this without getting in trouble? Ummm… Hmmm… Okay… In many ways, I can see the comparisons. I never read the book, but I did go see the film on opening weekend. Clearly, the overlapping stories of hidden codes and mysteries being kept in famous places is very similar. But what has always made me crazy is the fact that we were first. Our script was written before the book and yet we get accused of “stealing” their idea. It’s very upsetting because too many of us did some amazingly creative work… and made a really good movie… all by ourselves. So, I have to admit that I get a bit cranky when we get compared to Da Vinci Code.

Q: There’s also been comparisons made between Ben Gates and Indiana Jones. Care to comment?

JT: The comparison is a fair one and doesn’t bother me. Both characters are passionate about history and judge the value of their treasures on the object’s historical and cultural value, not its financial value. But I think Indy and Ben Gates are both characters derived from old-fashioned movies of the ’30s and ’40s. Also, Indiana Jones has one big advantage over Ben Gates — Indy is directed by Spielberg. That’s a plus.

Q: Given that you and Nic Cage have been friends since high school, does it make working together easier or more difficult?

JT: Working with friends is always a little weird. I think we’re all much nicer to strangers than we are to friends. Nic and I were friends in high school, but then we went twenty years without seeing each other. I went off to college and he went off to become an Oscar winning, world-famous actor. But no matter where you go in life, your friends from childhood always see you as the person you were as a child. So, even though we have huge amounts of respect for one another, we also know that deep down we’re really just a couple kids who did plays together in high school.

Q: Now that Nic is a big action hero, has it changed his approach to his work?

JT: Nic is as unique as they come. He approaches his roles the way he approaches his life — with lust, courage, freedom, and mischief. But as unpredictable as he is as an actor, he is always fully committed to making things work. In some ways, playing Ben Gates (who is buttoned-up, straight, serious, and nerdy) is more of a stretch for him than playing some of his more outgoing characters. The thing that is so impressive about Nic is that he is always a gentleman. He’s a very responsible and polite man. He is never late to the set, always learns his lines, and always treats people with respect.

Q: Since Nic and co-star Justin Bartha are both very quick witted, did you give your actors freedom to stray from the script?

JT: With these actors, improvisation is really important. Not necessarily during shooting, however. Sometimes improvisation is misunderstood. Finding new lines and new ways of doing a scene is done during the rehearsals for the scene just before we shoot. Usually, the actors and the crew iron out what we want to do before we roll the camera… otherwise, great moments can get lost. On NT2, we were ALL making things up as we went along. The writers were writing as we were shooting, so everyone jumped in. The only thing we had to be very careful about was keeping our historical facts straight. That was something we couldn’t fake.

Q: Some of the scenes, like the one in Buckingham Palace, border on slapstick. How far is too far for comedy in an action/adventure film?

JT: The worry about going too far is ALWAYS on your mind when working with Nic Cage. The man has no fear. He loves when he gets the opportunity to let loose. So we always try to vary the performances just a bit so that there’s a range of energy to play with. Nic was actually worried about offending the Brits. He’s extremely polite and is always a gentleman, so he actually needed a little encouragement to let go a bit.

Q: You shared some interesting thoughts in the commentary on violence and the anticipation of violence in actions films. Could you expand on that a bit?

JT: I like this question, because I do have some strong feelings on this subject. I remember driving down the Sunset Strip one day about ten years ago and I passed about seven giant movie billboards. And in every one there was a character holding a gun. It hit me that Hollywood does too good a job glorifying gun use. Now, I’m not saying that there shouldn’t be guns in movies. I think bans of that sort are silly. But it did make me want to make a movie where the action hero didn’t use a gun. I thought that if I could come up with a character who was just as brave and just as athletic as any other action hero, but used his head instead of a gun to get out of trouble, then we’d be making a more interesting film and maybe we’d be doing a good thing by not encouraging kids to solve problems with guns.

Q: You’ve run the gamut of films from touching personal stories (Phenomenon), to comedy (Cool Runnings), to these big budget action pics. What genre still holds a challenge for you?

JT: Every director is labeled. I’ve tried very hard to avoid being considered just one type of director. But it’s impossible. Everyone looks at whatever movie you successfully did last and then they want you to do the same thing. The thing I’ve noticed, however, is that when you make successful action films, they pay you more money! I don’t know about you, but getting paid more money for doing the same job seems like good incentive to do action movies. That said, I’d like to get back into character stories and comedies. And I have my heart set on making a movie in Africa.

Q: Will there be a third National Treasure film?

JT: We’re trying! Our philosophy is that until we have a great story, a great adventure, and a great piece of history to explore, there’s no point in making the movie. But we are working on it. And by “we” I mean “other people.”

Q: If it doesn’t happen, can you tell us the secret of Page 47?

A: Call me later and I’ll tell you privately… or email me at ItsASecret@I’mNotTellingYou.com

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