Baz Luhrmann Recut ‘Australia’ as a Series Because ‘Episodic Storytelling Has Been Reinvigorated’ by Streaming
Baz Luhrmann is looking at the benefits of streaming content.
The “Elvis” director recut his 2008 epic “Australia” for a Hulu limited series titled “Faraway Downs.” The film followed an English aristocrat (Nicole Kidman) who inherits a cattle range run by a cattle drover (Hugh Jackman). The limited series will have a new ending and a new soundtrack; “Australia” originally shot three endings, with only one making it into the theatrical release.
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“I was inspired to re-approach my film ‘Australia’ to create ‘Faraway Downs’ because of the way episodic storytelling has been reinvigorated by the streaming world,” Luhrmann said in a press statement. “With over two million feet of film from the original piece, my team and I were able to revisit anew the central themes of the work.”
Six-episode limited series “Faraway Downs” will premiere at the closing night of the inaugural SXSW Sydney Screen Festival October 21, with Luhrmann in attendance. This is not the first time, Luhrmann has been involved in a streaming project: he debuted his limited series “The Get Down” on Netflix in 2016.
“I am honored to world premiere ‘Faraway Downs’ in Australia, the place that has inspired me and my work my entire life,” Luhrmann continued, “and with a partner like SXSW who deeply recognizes the intersection of film, television and music with storytelling.”
Colin Daniels, the SXSW Sydney Managing Director, added, “We are so happy to be sharing the creative work of Baz Luhrmann and the entire ‘Faraway Downs’ team at Australia’s first ever SXSW Sydney.”
The official synopsis for “Faraway Downs” reads: Lady Sarah Ashley (Kidman) travels halfway across the world to confront her wayward husband and sell an unusual asset: Faraway Downs, a million-acre cattle ranch in the Australian outback. Following the death of her husband, a ruthless Australian cattle baron, King Carney (Bryan Brown) plots to take her land, and she reluctantly joins forces with a rough-hewn cattle drover (Jackman) to protect her ranch. The sweeping adventure-romance is explored through the eyes of young Nullah (Brandon Walters), an Indigenous Australian child caught up in the government’s Draconian racial policy now referred to as the Stolen Generations. Together, the trio experiences four life-altering years, a love affair between Lady Ashley and the drover, and the unavoidable impact of World War II on Northern Australia.
“Australia” had an almost three-hour runtime and was a box office flop. Luhrmann said upon the announcement of “Faraway Downs” that the original film was intended to be a “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.'”
Luhrmann co-wrote, directed, and produced “Australia,” with Catherine Knapman and G. Mac Brown also producing. Stuart Beattie, Ronald Harwood, and Richard Flanagan co-wrote the script. Production and costume design was by multiple-Academy Award winner Catherine Martin. “Faraway Downs” is executive produced by Luhrmann, Martin, Knapman, and Schuyler Weiss. 20th Television is the studio.
All six chapters of the miniseries will premiere together November 26 on Hulu in the United States, Star+ in Latin America, and on Disney+ in all other territories.
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