Baz Luhrmann’s 2008 feature Australia reimagined for Disney streamers

Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman star in Baz Luhrmann’s film Australia

Baz Luhrmann’s 2008 feature film Australia is being expanded and repackaged as a six-part limited series for Disney streaming platforms globally.

Titled Faraway Downs, the project is being put together from footage that was shot during the initial production cycle for the film, which starred Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. The limited series will have a different ending to the original film and an updated soundtrack.

Set to launch this winter, it will premiere on Hulu in the US and as a Star original on Disney+ and Star+ internationally.

Set in Australia prior to the Second World War, the original version of the film follows a British woman who inherits a sprawling ranch. When cattle barons attempt to take her land, she is forced to join forces with a rough stockman to drive 2,000 head of cattle across hundreds of miles of unforgiving land.

“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,” said Luhrmann, who directed the recently released musical drama Elvis.

“Drawn from the same material, Faraway Downs is a new variation on Australia for audiences to discover.”

Craig Erwich, president of Hulu originals and ABC Entertainment, said: “Baz is one of the world’s great auteur storytellers, so revisiting Faraway Downs and experiencing his incredible film Australia in this unique, new episodic format has been a revelatory and unique adventure.”

Disney’s 20th Television Luhrmann is producing Faraway Downs, with Luhrmann executive producing alongside Catherine Martin, Schuyler Weiss and Catherine Knapman.