"Moulin Rouge" director Baz Luhrmann said he has landed Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe for a romantic historical film set in their native Australia.

ADVERTISEMENT

Luhrmann confirmed some details of the movie but won't reveal the title for another three weeks, the Sydney Daily Telegraph reports.

The film is set in the 1930s and ends with the Japanese bombing of Darwin, Australia, the exodus south, known as the Adelaide River Stakes.

Luhrmann said he spent 10 years researching the history of what is known as the Adelaide River Stakes and that both Kidman and Crowe have taken pay cuts to do the film.

Twentieth Century Fox has agreed to shoot it in the Australian Outback, not a small feat, Luhrmann said, considering the push to use digital and studio sets.

Filming is to start in August.