How 'Australia' Is Getting Turned Into a Limited Series
There’s no shortage of TV remakes and reboots based on existing IP right now, but Baz Luhrmann’s Faraway Downs is a little different. This six-episode series is a reimagining of the director’s 2008 movie Australia, but it’s comprised entirely of footage from the ambitious original production, which shot for five months back in 2007. Given that length of filming time, it’s no surprise that Luhrmann had a lot of additional material that he couldn’t fit into the original cut.
So Faraway Downs is an expanded version of Australia, featuring largely the same storyline—a love story between Nicole Kidman’s fish-out-of-water aristocrat and Hugh Jackman’s rugged cattle drover, set against the backdrop of World War II Australia. But with a broader scope and some new twists. Here’s everything to know about the series, including its release date and who else is cast.
What is Faraway Downs about?
Luhrmann’s 2008 romantic epic Australia is set in the early 1940s and stars Nicole Kidman as an aristocratic English widow, Lady Sarah Ashley, who has just inherited a sprawling million-acre cattle ranch following her husband’s murder. That ranch is named Faraway Downs (hence the show’s title), and running it soon proves to be a much harder task than she anticipated. When Australian cattle barons try to muscle in on her land, Lady Sarah joins forces with a cattle drover, played by Hugh Jackman, in order to protect her ranch.
The story of their romance is told through the perspective of Nullah (Brandon Walters), a biracial indigenous Australian child who is adopted by the couple after being caught up in the Australian government’s brutal policy of forcibly removing First Nations children from their parents, a practice now referred to as “The Stolen Generations.” Together, per the show's official synopsis, “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.”
How does the Faraway Downs storyline compare to the Australia storyline?
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While the storyline is broadly the same, Faraway Downs chronicles an expanded version of the story that’s more serialized, and features an updated soundtrack along with a different ending. Think of it as a director’s cut, in six chapters.
“I originally set out to take the notion of the sweeping Gone With the Wind style epic and turn it on its head,” Luhrmann explained via Deadline. “[It was] 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.”
The writer-director went on to say that “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.”
Who is in the Faraway Downs cast?
Faraway Downs’ six episodes will be made up of cutting-room-floor footage that Luhrmann originally captured for Australia, so the cast will be the same—including Kidman, Jackman, Walters, Lord of the Rings actor David Wenham as a station manager who plots to steal Lady Sarah’s land, and Bryan Brown as a similarly villainous cattle baron.
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What is the Faraway Downs release date?
Faraway Downs will premiere in November 2023, with a specific date yet to be confirmed.
How to watch Faraway Downs
Faraway Downs will be released as a Hulu original in the U.S., while in international markets it will be available on Disney+ and Star+.
“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,” Craig Erwich, President, Hulu Originals and ABC Entertainment, said in a statement when the series was announced. “We look forward to taking viewers into the ranch and to experiencing all of the stories that are both held within and continue to unfold there.”
Is there a trailer for Faraway Downs?
There isn't a trailer yet, but you can stream Australia on Hulu to hold you over.
Next, Love in the Land Down Under! All About Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban’s Long-Lasting Romance
