'Australia' aims to cast wide net, reel in prod'n

November 17, 2008 Australia rolls out its most expensive movie ever Tuesday, hoping the grandly named epic "Australia" will attract overseas investors to revive the local film industry and also tourists. "Australia" is a World War II drama about an English aristocrat who travels to Australia and joins forces with a cattle "drover" or cowboy and an Aboriginal child to drive a herd of cattle across the stunning, rugged Australian landscape. Geoff Brown, executive director of the Screen Producers' Association of Australia, said the industry hoped director Baz Luhrmann's film draw in investors and lure moviegoers back to Australian movies after a string of bleak, boxoffice flops.

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