2017 Australian Movies

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Whether you’re looking to watch Australian movies to hear they’re awesome cool accents, you’re interested in getting to know a bit more about their culture, or you’d simply like to see what it looks like around the Australian country, all of the movies being released in Australia during 2017 can be found below.

Of the movies, some of them are directly set in Australia, some are made in Australia, whilst some others are simply filmed in Australia and set elsewhere.

Here is a list of all the Australian movies set for released in 2017:

Movie	Director	Release Date
Casting JonBenet	Kitty Green	22nd January 2017
My Pet Dinosaur	Matt Drummond	April 2017
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword	Guy Ritchie	12th May 2017
Alien: Covenant – Ridley Scott	Ridley Scott	19th May 2017
The Lego Batman Movie	Chris McKay	10th February 2017
Berlin Syndrome	Cate Shortland	20th January 2017
Jasper Jones	Rachel Perkins	2017
Andorra	Fred Schepisi	2017
Breath	Simon Baker	2017
Cargo	Ben Howling and Yolanda Ramke	2017
Hotel Mumbai	Anthony Maras	2017
Sweet Country	Warwick Thornton	2017
Three Summers	Ben Elton	August 2017
Tracy	Derek Erskine	2017
A Few Less Men	Mark Lamprell	9th March 2017
Cage Dive	Gerald Rascionato	2017
The Novelist	Laurent Boulanger	3rd February 2017
Waltzing Tilda	Jonathan Wilhelmsson	20th January 2017

Casting JonBenet

Casting JonBenet is a documentary style film revolving around the death of the American child beauty pageant queen – JonBenet Patricia Ramsey. It follows the aftermath of her being murdered at the young age of six and all the attention it derived around the nation during the time. There were suspicions it was either her brother or mother, Patsy, but no charges were ever officially filed.

Just recently in January 2017, Netflix gained the rights to distribute the film and premiered it at the Australian Sundance Film Festival. It holds high ratings across both IMBD and Rotten Tomatoes.

You can view a clip of the movie here.

My Pet Dinosaur

Directed by Matt Drummond, My Pet Dinosaur is Australian family film set for release in April 2017. The film was initially scripted as My Pet Monster until the rights were acquired by the American Film Market who renamed it to My Pet Dinosaur.

Rehearsals began in December 2015 with photography beginning on the 6^th January 2016. There isn’t much of a description available except for this little gem:

“A troubled town is plunged into chaos when a boy accidentally makes a new friend.”

Talk about a cliffhanger! David Roberts, Joanne Samuel, Tiriel Mora, and Christopher Gabardi are a few of the cast members for the film.

Check out the full trailer of the movie here.

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword – Guy Ritchie – 12^th May 2017

One of the more notable films on the list, King Arthur: Legen of the Sword consists of an all-star cast. Names such as Charlie Hunnam, Katie McGrath, Jude Law, Eric Bana, Aidan Gillen, Djimon Hounsou, and countless others are partaking in this $102 million blockbuster.

Filmed in both Australia and America, this adventure-drama flick revolves around the legendary Excalibur sword stuck in a stone, only to be drawn out by the young Arthur himself.

Be warned, it’s not the classical medieval style battle style flick, it does involve some mythical aspects as you’ll see in the trailers.

Watch these two trailers (this one and this one) and tell us you aren’t definitely going to see it in the movies!

Alien: Covenant – Ridley Scott – 19^th May 2017

On par with King Arthur above, Alien: Covenant features plenty of A-list celebrities of whom you’re likely familiar with. Do the names Michael Fassbender, James Franco, Danny McBride, Guy Pearce, or Noomi Rapace ring any bells? They sure do for us! Although, we aren’t quite sure of the Franco and McBride combination. We’re half expecting Jonah Hill to pop out as one of the Aliens.

Nevertheless, the film is set for a huge opening after it releases on the 19^th May 2017.  Alien: Covenant has been filmed across both Australia and New Zealand. Potts Hill and the Fox Studios in Sydney from Australia, as well as Milford Sounds, Fiordland National Park, and Mitre Peak from New Zealand are confirmed filming locations.

Alien: Covenant’s official trailer has racked up over 16 million hits since it was uploaded in December 2016 – it must be good.

The Lego Batman Movie – Chris McKay – 10^th February 2017

As the only animation on the list, The Lego Batman Movie premiered in Dublin, Ireland on the 29^th January 2017. Only being released a week and a bit later in the US on the 10^th February 2017. For those who’ve already seen it, did you know it was fully produced down under in Sydney, Australia?

Fox Studios in Moore Park was the sole location for the development of the $80 million movie. As of 22^nd February 2017, the film has also grossed over $112 million, leaving it well in the profit region.

Key voices in the animated movie include Will Arnett (Batman), Michael Cera (Robin), Rosario Dawson (Batgirl), Zack Galifianakis (Joker), and even Conan O’Brien (The Riddler).

With ratings of 7.7/10 on IMBD and a huge 91% on Rotten Tomatoes, if you’re into animation and/or Batman, we recommend you give this movie a watch!

There are a few trailers online, but by far, the Comic-Con version is the best.

Berlin Syndrome – Cate Shortland – 2^nd March 2017

Thriller! If you didn’t catch it, the film’s title is likely a play on Stockholm Syndrome – a which a person who’s been kidnapped may start to develop a relationship with their kidnapper. Berlin Syndrome is about just that – a young Australian journalist wakes up one morning in a Berlin apartment, unable to leave.

Teresa Palmer, born in Adelaida, South Australia, stars the main character whilst Max Riemelt, born in Berlin himself, stars the apartment owner/kidnapper. If you’re into thrillers, this is a must watch.

It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in Australia and has already received glowing reviews across online platforms. 7.3/10 on IMBD and just beating out Lego Batman with 92% on Rotten Tomatoes.

There aren’t any official trailers available online, but we’ve managed to find two clips which we’re sure will spark your interest. Check them out here and here.

Jasper Jones – Rachel Perkins – 2017

If you’re after a film with plenty of Australians in it, this is the one. Set in Australia, filmed in Australia and an all Australian cast. What more could you want?! Rachel Perkins is the director of the film, who also directed the critically acclaimed 2010 Australian movie – Bran Nue Dae.

Jasper Jones, the movie, is based on the novel by Craig Silvey. It’s a drama/mystery/thriller film where a young boy, Charlie Bucktin, sets out to find the true killer in a rural Australian town. The film is set in the 1960s and has subset aspects revolving around racism.

Hugo Weaving, Angourie Rice, Toni Collette, and Levi Miller are a few of the notable cast members in the movie.

The trailer looks quite intriguing, you can watch it on youtube here.

Andorra – Fred Schepisi – 2017

Andorra is real, extremely small, microstate located in Southwest Europe between France and Spain. Its total land area is only around 470 sq/km or 47,000 ha. It’s an extremely popular tourist destination, however, with over 10 million people visiting the location each year. Why? It’s unbelievably awesome ski resorts and it’s tax-haven status for duty-free shopping.

The movie Andorra, however, isn’t as bright and fluffy as the tourism side of things. Alexander Fox, decides he’s had enough of the US and movies to Andorra to start a new life. He meets a lovely, tall Australian blonde woman whilst finding himself the prime suspect in a murder investigation.

Guy Pearce stars as Alexander Fox, whilst Gillian Anderson takes on the role of Miss Quay.

No official trailer has been released yet, instead, you can learn a little bit about Andorra here.

Breath – Simon Baker – 2017

Breath (2017) is based on Tim Winton’s award-winning novel set in the mid-70s in coastal Australia. For the movie, filming has been currently taking place in Albany and Denmark, both coastal towns in Western Australia.

It’s an inspiring drama type film in which two teenage boys form an uncanny friendship with an experienced adventurer who pushes them to take more risks in life.

The Australian film stars Elizabeth Debicki, who you might know from The Great Gatsby and Everest, as well as Simon Baker from The Mentalist and The Devil Wears Prada.

Breath is set for release in 2017. Unfortunately, there’s no official trailer, so you’ll just have to wait for the full movie!

Cargo – Ben Howling and Yolanda Ramke – 2017

Based off one of the finalists in the Tropfest Australia 2013 competition, Cargo is a post-apocalyptic thriller revolving around a man trying to save his small child at all costs. The original short film entered into Tropfest featured a large portion of zombies, but Martin Freeman (Bilbo in The Hobbit) has stated many times over – it’s not a zombie movie, just a movie with zombies in it.

It’s the first feature film for the two directors, Ben Howling and Yolanda Ramke, who also directed the original – which had the minuscule budget of under $4,000.

We’re sure they made great returns on the investment, as the short film on Youtube has racked up over 12 million views in the past four years. Awesome work!

Cargo is currently in post-production, after filming concluded in South Australia.

The 7-minute clip is well worth the watch, you can check it out here.

Hotel Mumbai – Anthony Maras – 2017

Hotel Mumbai the movie is based on the 2009 documentary about the devastating attacks in 2008 at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in India – Surviving Mumbai. It follows the story of the victims and survivors binding together despite all of their differences in a scrupulous fight for survival.

Anthony Maras is heading up the directing of the film with Dev Patel, Jason Isaacs, Armie Hammer, and Natasha Liu Bordizzo (a young Australian actress) featured in roles.

Pricipal photography on the film began in August 2016 in Adelaide, Australia. After which, official filming is to take place in India. Unfortunately, no exact date has been released yet, but we do know it’s set to hit theaters sometime in 2017.

No trailer has been released for the movie, so we thought you may be interested in the documentary it’s based on. Watch it on Youtube here.

Sweet Country – Warwick Thornton – 2017

Warwick Thornton is heading Sweet Country as its sole director. The film is set in 1929 up in the northern area of Australia, in particular, the Northern Territory.

The Australian film follows the story of a young boy called Philomac, who witnesses Sam, one of the local Aboriginals, kill a station owner out of self-defense. Sam must go on the run to save his own life after a posse of locals follows in hot pursuit.

Sweet Country has received approval funding from both the Adelaide Film Festival, Screen NSW, and South Australian Film Corporation.

Unfortunately, the film is still quite small and has not released an official trailer, nor does it even have and IMDB page.

It’s currently in post-production with a release date set for sometime in 2017. You can follow along for any updates at Screen Australia.

Three Summers – Ben Elton – August 2017

Ben Elton has said he’s aiming to stir the pot of the Australian culture with his 2017 film – Three Summers. It’s said the movie is taking a clear stance on racism and immigration in the comedy/romance starring Robert Sheehan, Rebecca Breeds, and Mahesh Jadu.

Elton also commented the romantic comedy was wholly inspired by the Fairbridge festival which takes place annually near Pinjarra, Western Australia. The movie centers around a love story of two young musicians.

Three Summers recently concluded filming across Western Australia in mid-October. The release of the film to cinemas is set for August 2017 in Australia.

We were unable to find any videos or trailers anywhere! You’ll just have to wait for the full movie to come out.

Tracy – Derek Erskine – 2017

Derek Erskine is the director, one of the writers, and even one of the cast members in his movie – Tracy. The thriller depicts a drug and alcohol fueled couple, who’s love becomes so wild,  they turn into unthinkable realities and they hunt down their victims.

Cassandra Leopold stars the protagonist, Tracy, whilst Derek Erskine heads up the role of the husband, Daz. Filming in Melbourne has officialy concluded, and post-production has finished. The movie is set to be officialy released as a feature film in Australia on the 21^st April 2017.

It’s not a movie for everyone, so check out the trailer on Facebook here before watching!

A Few Less Men – Mark Lamprell – 9^th March 2017

Following A Few Best Men (2011) directed by Stephan Elliot as a sequel, A Few Less Men is about three men in questionably tailored suits wondering what the bloody hell went wrong after their travel plans turn haywire.

Xavier Samuel from Fury (2014) and Love & Friendship (2016), Kris Marshall from Love Actually (2003) and Death at a Funeral (2007), as well as Ryan Corr from Where the Wild Things Are and Wolf Creek 2 (2013) feature in the Australian film as a few of its cast members.

A Few Less Men comes in at exactly 92 minutes long with a certification rating of MA15+. Sorry under 15-year-olds! Gonna have to take your parents along for this one.

It was filmed in Perth, Western Australia and is set to be released on the 9^th March 2017. Check out the official trailer on Youtube here.

Cage Dive – Gerald Rascionato – 2017

It’s only appropriate that there’s a movie on the list of Australia movies released in 2017 involving something that eats you, in particular, SHARKS. Australia has had nearly 300% more shark attacks than any other country in the world. With 26 people attacked in 2016, of which two did not recover from their injuries.

Cage Dive is quite similar to The Reef (2010), also featuring sharks and set in Australia. Both films follow a similar storyline in which a group of young adults ventures out exploring the ocean, their boat flips for whatever reason (a rogue wave in Cage Dive), and everyone is left floating in the shark-infested waters.

If the story line sparks your interested, you’ll be happy to know Megan Peta Hill, Mark Fell, and Joel Hogan all-star as characters, with Gerald Rescionato directing.

The full trailer of Cage Dive can be watched here.

The Novelist – Laurent Boulanger – 3^rd February 2017

French-born and Australian-based director Laurent Boulanger is taking the head position on The Novelist released on the 3^rd February 2017. Paul Dawber, Albert Goikham, and Mardi Edge each take on a separate role in the feature film.

With a small budget of around AUD $20,000, The Novelist is about the struggles of a once good-selling writer and the difficulties one must overcome in order to move forward in their life. It’s listed as a Comedy film and extends for over 2 hours.

The Novelist’s trailer is available for all to watch on Youtube, see it here.

Waltzing Tilda – Jonathan Wilhelmsson – 20^th January 2017

*UPDATE* – Jonathan Wilhelmsson has mentioned Waltzing Tilda is still doing the film festival circuit and will be released online later in 2017.

At only 15 minutes long, Waltzing Tilda is the only short film featured on this list. Normally we wouldn’t add one of this length to the list, but after we watched the trailer, we felt obliged to share it with as many people out there as possible!

Holly Fraser is a young Australian actress taking on the main role in the film as Tilda herself. She has performed on many stages across the world include the Sydney Theatre Company, Presentation House Theatre in Canada, and the Australian Theatre for Young People. We think she’s done a great job in her biggest role yet.

Waltzing Tilda was filmed in Sydney, Australia and depicts a young girl, Tilda, waking up to find herself the last human on earth. Follow her journey as she experiences a wide range of emotions dealing with the intense feelings of being the only one left.

It hit the public’s eyes on the 20^th January 2017 after being completed with a small budget of AUD $5,650. Check out the trailer, then we dare you to come back and tell us you don’t want to watch it.

Hopefully you found at least a few of the 2017 Australian films on the list above interesting! If you do end up heading to the cinemas or finding a version to watch online, be sure to come back and tell us what you thought!