Baz Luhrmann’s 2008 film “Australia” will be re-edited as a Hulu miniseries. The film is an epic drama starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman about a couple brought together in northern Australia during World War II. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics in Australia, with many praising the film’s cinematography but noting the script, the project still grossed $211 million worldwide. Like many other Luhrmann films, the Australian box office fared better overseas than in the United States, particularly in the director’s home country on which the film was based.
In a statement from Luhrmann via THR, it was revealed that Australia will be turned into a six-part miniseries titled “Faraway Downs.” The miniseries will consist solely of existing footage from the original film, but will be re-edited with a new ending and updated soundtrack. Faraway Downs will be a reimagining of Australia, with never-before-seen footage also used to expand on the existing film. The series is scheduled to be released this winter and will premiere on Hulu in the US and Disney+ and Star+ internationally. Read Rahman’s full statement below.
“I originally thought about how I could flip the idea of a Gone with the Wind-style epic and use romance and epic drama to highlight the role and painful scars of Indigenous peoples. In Australian history of the ‘Stolen Generations’. This film has a uniquely Australian life, but this story had a different story to tell. It’s one with many different layers, nuances, and even different plot twists that the episodic format allows us to explore. Painted from the same material, Faraway Downs is a new Australian variation for audiences to discover. ”
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With an Australian run time of 2 hours and 45 minutes, there will be no shortage of existing footage to be reworked for Faraway Downs. When Australia was released in 2008, Luhrmann said they shot three separate endings. Considering these alternate finales, as well as other scenes deleted from the final cut, there’s clearly a lot of additional footage available for the upcoming miniseries to find its own new ending. Luhrmann’s comments about Australia’s Indigenous Peoples and Australia’s Stolen Generations Aboriginal children show that the new series is about the history experienced by Indigenous Australians up to the modern day, which many feel is missing in Australia. This suggests that he aims to further explore the theme of trauma. With Luhrmann’s recent Elvis biopic hitting the big screen, production on Luhrmann’s Faraway Downs is likely to begin soon.
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Source: THR
