Baz Luhrmann Releasing Six-Episode Miniseries on Hulu

Director Baz Luhrmann has a new series in the works - but the word ‘new’ is doing a lot of heavy lifting here.

His six-episode miniseries, which releases on Hulu in December, is actually a recut version of 2008 film Australia. Luhrmann’s not added any new footage, but does expand the film’s 165-minute runtime by using footage that never made it to the original, including a revised ending and updated soundtrack.

Faraway Downs, as with Australia, follows Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman), a well-to-do woman who inherits a million-acre cattle ranch called Faraway Downs. But when cattle baron King Carney (Bryan Brown) threatens to take her land, she joins forces with Hugh Jackman’s scruffy cattle drover to defend her home.

“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,” Luhrmann wrote in a statement in June 2022. “Drawn from the same material, Faraway Downs is a new variation on Australia for audiences to discover.”

See Kidman and Jackman in action below. The latter is set to appear in the recently delayed Deadpool 3, a delay that could prove costly.