<Tr> <Th> Box office </Th> <Td> $347.5 million </Td> </Tr> <P> National Treasure is a 2004 American adventure heist film produced and released by Walt Disney Pictures . It was written by Jim Kouf and the Wibberleys, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Jon Turteltaub . It is the first film in the National Treasure film series and stars Nicolas Cage, Harvey Keitel, Jon Voight, Diane Kruger, Sean Bean, Justin Bartha and Christopher Plummer . </P> <P> Cage plays Benjamin Franklin Gates, a historian and amateur cryptologist searching for a lost treasure of precious metals, jewelry, artwork and other artifacts that was accumulated into a single massive stockpile by looters and warriors over many millennia starting in Ancient Egypt, later rediscovered by warriors who form themselves into the Knights Templar to protect the treasure, eventually hidden by American Freemasons during the American Revolutionary War . A coded map on the back of the Declaration of Independence points to the location of the "national treasure," but Gates is not alone in his quest . Whoever can steal the Declaration and decode it first will find the greatest treasure in history . </P> <P> National Treasure was released worldwide on November 19, 2004 . The film received mixed reviews from critics, but was a box office success, grossing over $347 million worldwide . </P>

Who tried to steal the declaration of independence