Faraway Downs: Baz Luhrmann’s Australia is getting turned into a limited series on Hulu

After taking care of business with the release of Elvis, Baz Luhrmann is setting his sights on expanding his 2008 epic Australia, which starred Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman, as a series called Faraway Downs. This six-part series will run on Hulu in the United States and Disney+ and Star+ internationally. This ambitious project will be stitched together entirely from footage Luhrmann captured for Australia but will have a new ending and music. Luhrmann expects to launch the series this winter.

“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,’” said Luhrmann in a statement. “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.”

In northern Australia before World War II, Australia focuses on an Englishwoman who inherits a sprawling ranch and makes a reluctant pact with a stock-man to drive 2,000 head of cattle over unforgiving landscapes. The story is explored through the eyes of young Nullah (Brandon Walters), a bi-racial Indigenous Australian child caught up in the government’s draconian racial policy now referred to as the “Stolen Generations.”

“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,” said Hulu Originals and ABC Entertainment president Craig Erwich. “We look forward to taking viewers into the ranch and experiencing all of the stories that are both held within and continue to unfold there.”

What do you think about Luhrmann expanding Australia for Faraway Downs as a series? Did you enjoy the original enough to retake the journey in an episodic format? Who do you think should star in the limited series? Feel free to let us know in the comments section below.