Hugh Jackman Calls Australia Movie the Biggest Aussie Epic

The project that was initially dubbed "Untitled Baz Luhrmann Project" and has come to be known simply as "Australia" is earning headlines as the biggest movie to ever come out of the Land Down Under. The film is set to star Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman. Jackman outlined the film as an outback epic with Kidman playing the role of an English aristocrat who inherits a cattle station and then must hire Jackman to move the herd across the country. The story includes a historical event, the bombing of Darwin during World War II.

An Australian gala dinner was held in New York to help promote the film as part of G’Day USA. The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Jackman’s words at the event; "This is going to be on a scale never seen before. It's by far the biggest Australian film ever made." A clip was shown at the dinner, and director Luhrman explained that he grew up seeing breathtaking American landscapes on film, and he wanted to make a grand film utilizing an untapped wealth of Australian landscapes and scenery.

The project seems to be reminiscent in a few respects of "Far and Away" in which Kidman starred with her ex-husband Tom Cruise. Romantic frontier, rich girl from another country meets common boy and they journey together through trials and history in the making across beautiful land and through hard times.

Australia looks like it will see more of the big screen than ever before, and "Australia" looks like it is aiming for a 2008 release.