ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — For most of us, real life isn’t like the movies, but for at least 300,000 people it was.

You might remember the story of when Santa Fe art dealer Forrest Fenn said he hid a treasure chest worth about $2 million over a decade ago. Now, it’s making headlines once again in the form of a new documentary, “Gold & Greed.” 

“This was a story that was bound to be told. It was probably the most pitched story in the entertainment industry for years,” said Jared McGilliard, director and executive producer of “Gold & Greed.” 

If the story of eccentric millionaire Forrest Fenn’s buried treasure sounds like it’s out of a movie, that’s because it practically is. 

“For me, I think it pointed back to my childhood and watching, you know, ‘Indiana Jones’ and ‘Goonies,’ and I think for a lot of treasure hunters that did the same, and sort of brought up that childlike, ability to dream,” McGilliard said.  

Back in 2010, Fenn buried a treasure chest worth $2 million in the Rocky Mountains. It wasn’t until 2020 that someone finally found it in Yellowstone Park in Wyoming. 

But for those 10 years, it took the nation by storm. The docuseries is in three parts and follows people who searched for the treasure themselves. 

“The subjects of this series, they all searched for years for this, and they had such highs and lows. And the treasure hunt really meant to mean something far beyond just the box of jewels and gold,” McGilliard said. 

About 300,000 people searched in all, with some even doing research online. 

“I was like digging through maps on Reddit. I was digging through a lot of articles. I was talking with other people that were searching,” Eric Kuhns said. 

Kuhns says he didn’t get the chance to physically search for the chest but, for him, it wasn’t about the money or jewels. 

“If anybody takes anything away from his treasure hunt, it shouldn’t be that, you know, there was a possibility of making millions of dollars. I think the big takeaway is that, ‘Hey, get out into nature and enjoy it while it’s still there,'” Kuhns said. 

The 10-year-long treasure hunt wasn’t all fun and games though. At least five people died looking for the chest. There were also numerous lawsuits filed.

McGilliard says it was important they included all aspects of the story. 

“We just tried to, you know, embrace it and sort of understand, understood how that changed the general sort of plot and overall story of the treasure hunt, and also how that changed the experience for the individuals,” McGilliard.