National Treasure: Book of Secrets" is one of the most eagerly anticipated releases this year, it should be - the original sparked viewer imagination and was hailed as the best adventure since the last "Indiana Jones" flick.
That said the new "Indiana Jones and the Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull seeing Memorial Day, 20o08 release.
Famed producer Jerry Bruckheimer talks about the next installment.
QUESTION: I’ve seen you in a couple of different cities, sitting in the back of the theater, eating popcorn. Do you still enjoy that, just watching people’s reactions to your films?
JERRY BRUCKHEIMER: Yeah, I love it. The first week, or two, you know, I’ll go out, check out if people are showing up and if they’re enjoying the movie. You learn a lot.
QUESTION: What do you learn? From a pre-screening to a post-screening
JERRY BRUCKHEIMER: Sometimes the pre-screenings don’t give you real truth. When people pay money, it’s real truth, you know? Something for free is much different than something you have to pay ten bucks for. So then, you’re really much more critical.
QUESTION: Was there something in the first National Treasure that you saw at the post screenings that surprised you?
JERRY BRUCKHEIMER: Yeah, there was a lot more laughter than I expected. So, it was good.
QUESTION: And where does National Treasure go from here? Nic was mentioning the idea to do more international stories, what is your take on that?
JERRY BRUCKHEIMER: You know, I think it’s something we’ll have to explore once this one opens, and hopefully, it will be a success, and then we’ll think about it.
QUESTION: Do you have an affinity for action scenes in particular?
JERRY BRUCKHEIMER: Nah -- I have an affinity for story and character. Action is a punctuation and icing. That’s all it is.
QUESTION: Do you see a change in that? Is Hollywood going more towards better scripts and maybe a bit less action?
JERRY BRUCKHEIMER: Let’s hope it’s both. I think it’s all tied together, you know. It’s character/story. If the action melds into that, then it works; but if it doesn’t--you know, I don’t ever buy a script or an idea ‘cause it’s got a lot of action. I couldn’t care less. It’s all about the story. Everything else, we can figure out.
QUESTION: There seems to still be a lot of life in this storyline, do you think there will be more National Treasures?
JERRY BRUCKHEIMER: You know -- there are always a lot of stories to tell about a treasure hunter. There’s always another adventure. It just depends on a lot of things -- can you put the same team together? Can you get the same writers back? Can you get the same director? You don’t know. It all comes down to the idea.
QUESTION: Can you talk about your partnership in movies over the years with Nic Cage? What is it about Nic that you like working with, and why particularly for this movie?
JERRY BRUCKHEIMER: He’s unexpected. You never know what he’s gonna do. I mean, some actors, you watch them in the movies, and you’ll know where they’re going with their reactions. You know where their emotions are gonna go. You can tell what their facial expressions are gonna be. You never know where Nic’s gonna go in a scene -- ever. He’s so quirky and interesting that he will take something that is a very straight scene and he’ll turn it on its ear, in a brilliant way.
QUESTION: What was the biggest challenge on this movie?
JERRY BRUCKHEIMER: The biggest challenge is always the story and character -- always. The technical things, you’ll figure out a way to do it, or you’ll change the location, or you’ll do something else, but story and character is the hardest thing. Sequels are really hard to do because you wanna give the audience the same experience, but it can’t be derivative. It can’t feel like the first one. It’s gotta be fresh, and that’s really hard to do.
QUESTION: Is there such a thing as the ultimate Jerry Bruckheimer project?
JERRY BRUCKHEIMER: I don’t know. I think anything that’s good entertainment and has heart is a good Jerry Bruckheimer film.
QUESTION: Is there anything that you have been hankering to do that you haven’t been able to do yet?
JERRY BRUCKHEIMER: We have 40 projects in development. So, all of those are good ideas that we feel we’d like to bring to the screen. We’re not gonna get ‘em all to the screen, because other people will beat us to it, you know, the concept. So, some of ‘em will make it.
QUESTION: How do you oversee so many projects? With TV and movies, obviously you have a team, but do you say what goes when?
JERRY BRUCKHEIMER: The studio decides when we make the movies and if they want to fund ‘em. So, we develop and we send them to them. If they like the screenplays, then we’ll make ‘em. As far as television, the show writers run their shows. I still read every script and watch every episode, and I talk to them if there’s something I don’t like. Movies, I try to be there everyday I can, of course. We went to South Dakota. I was there for a couple of days. We went to London. I was there for like four or five days, but I try to get to most of our movie sets.
QUESTION: How does the U.S. government view what you’re doing? Do you ever get any queries from Washington about how deep you are getting into our secrets?
JERRY BRUCKHEIMER: Nah, they know it’s all fantasy.
QUESTION: Do you ever see yourself dropping back a bit, doing fewer projects at one time?
JERRY BRUCKHEIMER: No. I’m having too much fun. I love what I do. I mean it’s creative. We’re not turning widgets. I’m not digging a ditch. I’m not out in the hot sun, although some of our locations are hot. But, it’s not like sitting in an office where you’re an accountant or something, and you’re just pouring over numbers all day till your eyes blur. You sit in rooms with writers and you come up with ideas and you make them come real. It’s a lot of fun.
