Baz Luhrmann's 2008 film Australia is set to be re-edited into a Hulu miniseries. The film is an epic drama starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, and follows a couple brought together in northern Australia during the Second World War. While Australia received mixed reviews from critics, with many praising the film's cinematography but finding the script lacking, the project still grossed $211 million worldwide. Similar to many other Luhrmann films, Australia found better box office success overseas than in the United States, particularly in the director's home country the film is based on.
In a statement from Luhrmann via THR, it has been revealed that Australia will now be made into a six-part miniseries, titled Faraway Downs. The miniseries will be comprised solely of existing footage from the original film, but re-edited with a new ending and updated soundtrack. Faraway Downs will be a reimagining of Australia, also using never-before-seen footage to expand on the existing film. The series is set to release this winter, and will premiere on Hulu in the United States, and Disney+ and Star+ internationally. Read Luhrmann's full statement below:
“I originally set out to take the notion of the sweeping, Gone With the Wind-style epic and turn it on its head — a way of using romance and epic drama to shine a light on the roles of First Nations people and the painful scar in Australian history of the ‘Stolen Generations.’ While Australia the film has its own life, there was another telling of this story; one with different layers, nuances and even alternative plot twists that an episodic format has allowed us to explore. Drawn from the same material, Faraway Downs is a new variation on Australia for audiences to discover.”
With Australia coming in at a runtime of 2 hours and 45 minutes, there is no shortage of existing footage to be re-worked for Faraway Downs. When Australia was released in 2008, Luhrmann said that he had filmed three separate endings. Given these alternate finales, along with any other deleted scenes from the final cut, there is clearly plenty of extra footage available for the upcoming miniseries to find its own new ending. Luhrmann's comments about Australia's First Nations people and the country's Stolen Generation of Aboriginal children indiciate that the new series will aim to further explore themes of the historical trauma experienced by Indigenous Australians through to the modern day, which many found to be lacking in Australia. Now that Lurhmann's recent Elvis biopic has hit screens, the director's work on Faraway Downs is likely to begin soon.
Source: THR