Back to Australia for Baz Luhrmann

It can't be easy creating a follow-up to the extravaganza that was Moulin Rouge, but Australian filmmaker Baz Luhrmann is giving it his best shot.

The director - who refuses to call himself "straight," even though he's married to a woman - has announced plans for an epic starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, titled simply Australia.

The film stars Kidman as a British aristocrat who moves to the continent in the 1930s and falls for restless native Jackman. Their romance has to endure the Japanese bombing of Darwin during World War II.

Australia starts shooting in March after many delays - the film was originally going to star Russell Crowe as Kidman's leading man, but after he dropped out, the production was stuck in limbo until Jackman came aboard.