The Most Expensive Film in Australia

Actress Nicole Kidman is shown in a scene from director Baz Luhrmann’s new film Australia. The most expensive film ever produced in Australia.

Australian actors from left, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman and Brandon Walters applaud as Aboriginal actor David Gulpilil, right, arrives for a press conference.

Fans stand in the rain as they wait for the stars of the movie Australia to walk the red carpet during the world premiere. Set in northern Australia before World War II, it is the story of an English aristocrat who inherits a sprawling ranch and drives cattle across Australia with a handsome stockman in order to protect her new property from a takeover plot.

Australian actor Nicole Kidman waves as she walks the red carpet with her husband Keith Urban. The actress plays an English aristocrat who inherits a ranch the size of Maryland.

Actors Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman pose before a news conference in Sydney. The actors, who are long-time friends in real life, play a mis-matched couple who fall in love while driving cattle across the Outback.

Nicole Kidman walks in the rain under an umbrella held by director Baz Luhrmann. Kidman, who previously starred in Luhrmann’s musical Moulin Rouge, describes the director as her ’creative soul mate’ and agreed to star in Australia without reading the script.

Nicole Kidman walks the red carpet during the world premiere which stopped traffic in Sydney. No fewer than 15 babies were born to cast and crew during the course of the very long filming, one being Kidman’s daughter Sunday Rose.

Australian actor Brandon Walters arrives on the red carpet. Critics are saying Brandon, who makes his acting debut in Australia, deserves an Oscar nomination for his performance and Baz Luhrmann thinks the 13-year-old is destined for major success.

The all-star cast of Australia:

(left to right) David Ngoombujarra, Jack Thompson, Hugh Jackman, Brandon Walters

(front), Nicole Kidman, Bryan Brown (partly obscured), David Gulpilil and David Wenham join director/producer/writer Baz Luhrmann (fourth right) and other cast members in Sydney.

Australian actors from left, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Brandon Walters and David Gulpilil. Filming took nine months and is the most expensive and highly-anticipated movie to be made in Australia.