Mira Nair is embarking on an epic treasure hunt. She’s following up BBC miniseries “A Suitable Boy” with another small screen project, a female-led reimagining of the “National Treasure” franchise from writers Marianne and Cormac Wibberley. Deadline broke the news.
Set to explore “the timely issues of identity, community, historical authorship, and patriotism,” the Disney+ series is “told from the point of view of Jess Morales, a twenty-year-old DREAMer who, with her diverse group of friends, sets off on the adventure of a lifetime to uncover her mysterious family history and recover lost treasure.” Nair is directing.
Released in 2004, “National Treasure” earned more than $347 million worldwide and spawned a 2007 sequel, “National Treasure: Book of Secrets.” Nicolas Cage led both films, and the Wibberleys penned the scripts.
Asked when filmmaking becomes “a political act,” Nair told Youth Ki Awaaz, “I think filmmaking is a political act. It doesn’t become it. It begins from the inception – what do you have to say about the world in your film? What is your point of view? Where are you looking at the world from? What are you choosing to say or show? I feel so firmly that if we don’t tell our own story, no one will tell them [for us.]” She added, “I feel very firmly that my camera, my soul, my film, my eyes, and my heart most of all, should be and is with the people who are mine and are often not heard or seen.”
Nair’s feature credits include “Queen of Katwe,” “Monsoon Wedding,” and “Mississippi Masala.”