A second chance in Australia

Download a two-page excerpt from our January issue feature as a PDF: A second chance in Australia, Spotlight 1/2009

Links

1. Along with being the face of Australia, Nicole Kidman is the face of Chanel No. 5 perfume. After she reportedly earned $3.71 million for this three-minute Chanel TV ad, she became the record holder for the most money ever paid per minute to an actor.

LINK: Nicole Kidman at People

2. Tourism Western Australia has spent $1 million on a campaign linked with the release of Australia in the United States, Canada, Japan, Europe and South Korea. The industry hopes that Luhrmann's film will deliver visitors from all over the world in the same kind of numbers that came to the country following the 1986 release of Crocodile Dundee. Tourism Australia is working with Luhrmann and 20th Century Fox on a publicity campaign titled, "See the Movie, See the Country", based on maps and guides to transform the film locations into "a real-life" travel adventure.

3. Some say that the scenery is the star in Australia, but most will want to see the chemistry between Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman in the epic romantic adventure directed by Baz Luhrmann.

4. "Jackman's Landing" is a fan site devoted to Hugh Jackman. Every move he makes, every breath (almost) he takes, is documented. So, on 20 November we get this: "Hugh Jackman is the Sexiest Man Alive! Maybe that's not really news, but it is news that People magazine says so." It's all Jackman, all the time.

5. "And the winner is..." Will there be an Oscar for Australia on 22 February? Maybe. Maybe not. But Australia will be one of the night's big winners because the honour of hosting the 81st Academy Awards ceremony has gone to Hugh Jackman. All the hosts until now have been Americans, so Jackman's selection is Hollywood's recognition that the film industry today depends as much on international success as it does on the North American market: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences