Hugh Jackman to Star with Nicole Kidman in Baz Luhrmann's Untitled Epic; Luhrmann's First Feature Film since Oscar-Winner ``Moulin Rouge'' to Begin Production February 2007

Business Wire, June 7, 2006

LOS ANGELES -- Hugh Jackman, just off the record-breaking success of "X-Men: The Last Stand," has agreed to star with Nicole Kidman in writer-director Baz Luhrmann's as yet untitled epic.

Jackman, one of today's most in-demand and busiest talents, chose the Luhrmann film over the myriad projects he has been offered in recent weeks. His next film set for release, Darren Aronofsky's "The Fountain," is already receiving strong critical buzz. Also awaiting release for the actor are Woody Allen's "Scoop" and Christopher Nolan's "The Prestige."

Luhrmann's film, a romantic action-adventure set in northern Australia prior to World War II, centers on an English aristocrat (Kidman) who inherits a ranch the size of Maryland. When English cattle barons plot to take her land, she reluctantly joins forces with a rough-hewn cattle driver (Jackman) to drive 2,000 head of cattle across hundreds of miles of the country's most unforgiving land, only to still face the bombing of Darwin, Australia, by the Japanese forces that had attacked Pearl Harbor only months earlier.

With his new film, Luhrmann is painting on a vast canvass, creating a cinematic experience that brings together romance, drama, adventure and spectacle.

The film begins pre-production October 2006 and production commences in Australia in February 2007. A third lead, a dark rival for the heroine's love and land, will be announced shortly.

One of the world's largest producers and distributors of motion pictures, Fox Filmed Entertainment produces, acquires and distributes motion pictures throughout the world. These motion pictures are produced or acquired by the following units of FFE: Twentieth Century Fox, Fox 2000 Pictures, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Fox Atomic and Twentieth Century Fox Animation.