New Australian films coming in 2024: movie releases

Here is (almost) every Australian film coming out in 2024, and what we know about them so far. Note that some of these films have only just started production, and thus their release dates could very well be shifted to 2025 or even later. We have done our best to compile and cross check information on each film where possible.

If you’re looking for a summary of the Australian TV and streaming options of 2024, look no further than this article. If you’re looking for our most anticipated international films, you can find that list here.

Read: New films in 2024: Furiosa, Dune part two, Mickey 17, Priscilla and more

At a glance, we have Force of Nature (aka the sequel to The Dry), Furiosa, Wolf Creek 3, The Moogai, Lesbian Space Princess, and How to Make Gravy all expected to come to cinemas in 2024. More below:

Read: New Australian TV & streaming shows in 2024

Force of Nature: The Dry 2

• Director: Robert Connolly
• Cast includes: Eric Bana, Anna Torv, Deborah-lee Furness
• Synopsis: In Force of Nature: The Dry 2, when five women take part in a corporate hiking retreat and only four come out on the other side, Federal Agents Aaron Falk and Carmen Cooper head deep into the Victorian mountain ranges to investigate in the hopes of finding their whistle-blowing informant, Alice Russell, alive.
• Where to watch: In cinemas
• Release date: 8 February
• FYI: The film received major production investment from Screen Australia in association with VicScreen. 

Combat Wombat: Back 2 Back

• Director: Ricard Cussó, Tania Vincent
• Cast includes: Deborah Mailman, David Wenham, Mark Coles Smith
• Synopsis: Life has become a little too demanding for Maggie Diggins aka Combat Wombat. Whilst the Sanctuary City crime rate is at an all-time low, she’s now expected to spend her days helping unclog drains instead of saving the world! But when evil tech genius Lenny Glick threatens to trap the whole city in a ‘perfect’ metaverse simulation, Combat Wombat and her sidekick Sweetie must work together to save the day. 
• Where to watch: In cinemas
• Release date: 29 February
• FYI: Combat Wombat: Back 2 Back marks the sequel to the 2020 film Combat Wombat

Just a Farmer

• Director: Simon Lyndon
• Cast includes: Leila McDougall, Robert Taylor, Damian Walshe-Howling
• Synopsis: The movie is a personal crusade by 35 year-old farmer turned film-maker Leila McDougall to raise awareness of farmer suicide and the devastation it leaves behind. Alison (McDougall) is left to manage an ailing farm and an alcoholic father-in-law (Taylor) after her husband Alec’s (Joel Jackson) sudden death by suicide.
• Where to watch: In cinemas
• Release date: 15 March
• FYI: Just a Farmer features the music of music of Nick Cave and Paul Kelly.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

• Director: George Miller
• Cast includes: Anya Taylor Joy, Chris Hemsworth
• Synopsis: Anya Taylor-Joy is Furiosa, the one-armed renegade warrior from George Miller’s Oscar winner Mad Max: Fury Road, in this story taking place before she met Max.
• Where to watch: In cinemas
• Release date: 23 May 2024
• FYI: Furiosa was filmed in NSW. The last Max Max film to be filmed entirely in Australia was 1986 release Mad Max: Beyond the Thunderdome

The Surfer

• Director: Lorcan Finnegan
• Cast includes: Nicolas Cage, Julian McMahon, Miranda Tapsell
• Synopsis: When a man returns to Australia to buy back his family home after many years in the US, he is humiliated in front of his teenage son by a group of local surfers who claim ownership over the secluded beach of his childhood. Wounded, he defies them and remains at the beach, demanding acceptance. As the conflict escalates he is brought right to the edge of his sanity and his entire identity is thrown into question
• Where to watch: In cinemas and on Stan
• Release date: TBC
• FYI: The Surfer was filmed in Yallingup and saw 150 Western Australians employed as cast, crew and extras.

Wolf Creek 3

• Director: Rachele Wiggins
• Cast includes: John Jarrett
• Synopsis: The third instalment of this Australian horror classic will see John Jarratt reprise his role as the serial killer Mick Taylor, who continues his xenophobic murder spree in the Australian outback. 
• Where to watch: In cinemas
• Release date: TBC, possibly February or March.
• FYI: The film was originally slated for a 2023 release.

Sleeping Dogs

• Director: Adam Cooper
• Cast includes: Russell Crowe, Karen Gillan
• Synopsis: Sleeping Dogs centres on former homicide detective Roy Freeman, who is undergoing treatment for Alzheimer’s. He is tasked with re-examining a brutal murder case from his past after a death row inmate Roy arrested 10 years prior is now proclaiming his innocence.
• Where to watch: In cinemas
• Release date: TBC
• FYI: Sleeping Dogs was filmed in Victoria in 2023

With or Without You

• Director: Kelly Schilling
• Cast includes: Marta Dusseldorp, Melina Vidler, Albert Mwangi,
• Synopsis: The film is described as ‘an inspirational mother-daughter story of finding love and safety from tough beginnings – inspired by lived experience from SA director Kelly Schilling’.
• Where to watch: Stan
• Release date: With or Without You will have its Australian premiere at the 2024 Adelaide Film Festival.
• FYI:  All production and post-production for With or Without You took place in South Australia.

The Moogai

• Director: Jon Bell
• Cast includes: Shari Sebbens, Meyne Wyatt, Tessa Rose
• Synopsis: A young Aboriginal couple brings home their second baby. What should be a joyous time takes a sinister turn, as the baby’s mother starts seeing a malevolent spirit she is convinced is trying to take her baby.
• Where to watch: In cinemas
• Release date: TBC
• FYI: This feature is based on the award-winning short film written and directed by Jon Bell.

Audrey

• Director: Natalie Bailey
• Cast includes: Hannah Diviney
• Synopsis: A dramedy following self-appointed Mother of the Year, Ronnie Lipsick, who is living a life she never wanted, with a derailed career, a husband whose love for life has gone limp and two daughters who she struggles to connect with. When an accident lands her eldest daughter Audrey in a coma, Ronnie gets a second chance at life by taking on her daughter’s identity – only she’s not the only one in the family who sees Audrey’s comatose state as an opportunity.
• Where to watch: In cinemas
• Release date: TBC
• FYI: Audrey is disability advocate Hannah Diviney’s feature film debut.

The Correspondent

• Director: Kriv Stenders
• Cast includes: TBC
• Synopsis: December 2013, in the shadow of the Great Pyramids of Egypt, Australian journalist Peter Greste is confronted with the brutal realities of reporting from one of the most dangerous cities on earth. Accused of terrorism, Greste becomes a pawn in the middle of a deadly game full of corrupt officials and ancient rivalries – with only his wits keeping him alive
• Where to watch: In cinemas
• Release date: TBC
• FYI: This film is financed in association with Screen NSW with support from Jovial Planet Productions, Spectrum Films, Dreamlight Studio and the Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund.

The Fox

• Director: Dario Russo
• Cast includes: Jai Courtney, Morfydd Clark 
• Synopsis: The Fox is about an heir to a vineyard dynasty who discovers his fiancé is cheating on him, and wants nothing more than to avoid embarrassment and get the issue resolved. Desperate, he decides to follow the advice of a rogue fox, who promises him that his doomed relationship will be fixed if he pushes his loved one into a magic hole.
• Where to watch: In cinemas
• Release date: TBC
• FYI: The Fox is produced by Causeway Films, the multi award-winning production company behind the globally acclaimed horror The Babadook.

An Ideal Wife

• Director: Sophie Hyde
• Cast includes: Emelia Clarke
• Synopsis: Follows the life of Constance Lloyd, leading light in the anti-corset movement and wife of Oscar Wilde, exploring the sexual awakening she experienced when she discovered that Wilde was homosexual.
• Where to watch: In cinemas
• Release date: TBC
• FYI: An Ideal Wife will mark Hyde’s follow-up to Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, which starred Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack and virtually premiered at Sundance.

My Melbourne

• Director: Samira Cox, Rima Das, William Duan
• Cast includes: Siem Putland, Arka Das, Jackson Gallagher
• Synopsis: The film interweaves four stories from emerging writing and directing teams, exploring sexuality, gender, disability and race.
• Where to watch: In cinemas
• Release date: TBC
• FYI: Each of the shorts feature work from two students of Bus Stop Films, the organisation that makes films with, for and about people from diverse backgrounds and abilities.

Runt

• Director: John Sheedy
• Cast includes: Jai Courtney, Celeste Barber, Deborah Mailman, Jack Thompson
• Synopsis: A big screen adaptation of Australian author’s Craig Silvey’s 2002 book Runt, about the friendship between a young girl and a stray dog she takes under her wing.
• Where to watch: In cinemas
• Release date: TBC
• FYI: Filming began in Western Australia in November 20233.

He Ain’t Heavy

• Director: David Vincent Smith
• Cast includes: Leila George, Sam Corlett, Greta Scacchi
• Synopsis: A desperate woman kidnaps and enforces rehab on her violent brother in a last-ditch effort to save their lives.
• Where to watch: In cinemas
• Release date: TBC
• FYI: The feature film was born from Vincent Smith’s proof of concept short I’m Not Hurting You, which premiered at Sydney Film Festival and screened at numerous local and international film festivals including Flickerfest and Austin Film Festival.

Inside

• Director: Charles Williams
• Cast includes: Guy Pearce, Chloe Hayden, Cosmo Jarvis, Vincent Miller
• Synopsis: In the coming-of-age film, after being transferred from juvenile to adult prison, Mel Blight (Vincent Miller) is taken under the wing of both Mark Shepard (Cosmo Jarvis), Australian criminal, and Warren Murfett (Guy Pearce), a soon-to-be-a-paroled inmate. As a paternal triangle grows between them, we see that ‘even the worst of men have a little bit of good inside that will be their undoing’.
• Where to watch: In cinemas
• Release date: TBC
• FYI: This is William’s feature debut. His short film All These Creatures won the Palme d’Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.

My Eyes

• Director: Angela How
• Cast includes: Tsu Shan Chambers, Adam Garcia, Nia Rush
• Synopsis: When optometrist Alana discovers her daughter has a rare inherited eye disease, she must look into her past to realise her vision for the future. A judo athlete with a vision impairment halfway across the world may hold the answers she seeks, but old truths threaten to derail the mission and Alana’s marriage. Can she save her daughter’s sight without losing everything else she holds dear?
• Where to watch: In cinemas
• Release date: TBC
• FYI: The film is inspired by Chambers’ time volunteering at the 2000 Paralympic Games when she was an optometry student.

Kid Snow

• Director: Paul Goldman
• Cast includes: Billy Howle, Phoebe Tonkin, Tom Bateman
• Synopsis: Outback Australia, 1971. Kid Snow, 30, a washed-up Irish fighter in a raucous travelling tent-boxing show, is offered a rematch against the man he fought ten years ago. It’s his chance to turn the page on a tragedy that changed his life forever. But when the feisty single mother Sunny crosses Snow’s path he is forced to contemplate a future beyond life on the road. Featuring a score from acclaimed musician Warren Ellis.
• Where to watch: In cinemas
• Release date: TBC
• FYI: Kid Snow was the first feature film to kick off production in WA since the border opened after COVID lockdowns.

In Vitro

• Director: Tom McKeith, William Howarth
• Cast includes: Talia Zucker, Ashley Zukerman, Will Howarth
• Synopsis: Layla and her husband Jack live on an isolated cattle property hundreds of miles from the nearest neighbour. With their son away at boarding school, Jack spends his days tending to the livestock and experimenting with new biotechnology, Layla pines for her son and the life she once had. One night, everything changes when a storm knocks out power to the property and they soon discover that something unknown has has been released onto the farm.
• Where to watch: In cinemas
• Release date: TBC
• FYI: In Vitro marks writer-directors Tom McKeith and Will Howarth’s follow-up to their debut feature Beast, which was nominated for Best First Feature at TIFF 2015. 

Lesbian Space Princess

• Director: Emma Hough Hobbs, Leela Varghese
• Cast includes: Kween Kong
• Synopsis: An anxious space princess is thrust out of her sheltered life and into a galactic quest to save her bounty hunter ex-girlfriend from the Straight White Maliens. Along the way, a problematic spaceship and a runaway gay-pop idol join her hazardous encounters with blade-wielding maniacs, dangerous dick turrets and the scariest thing of all: her own self-doubt.
• Where to watch: In cinemas
• Release date: The film is scheduled to have its premiere at the Adelaide Film Festival in 2024.
• FYI: The film came into being thanks to South Australia’s Film Lab: New Voices initiative.

Sacrifice

• Director: Ai Lene Chor
• Cast includes: Richard Norton, James Mason, Grant Piro
• Synopsis: Follows the lives and unbreakable love between Blake Robinson; a headstrong and respected military officer who falls for the the heart warming humanitarian James Hunter. Their sense of duty pushing this connection to its very limits.
• Where to watch: In cinemas
• Release date: 1 December 2024
• FYI: Sacrifice is based on the successful short film of the same name streaming on Amazon Prime.

Salt Along the Tongue

• Director: Parish Malfitano
• Cast includes: Laneikka Denne, Dina Panozzo, Caroline Levien
• Synopsis: After the sudden death of her mother, Mia is given no choice but to live with her estranged aunt, her mother’s identical twin. As Mia grapples with the loss of her mother, a treacherous secret begins to unfurl, threatening her life.
• Where to watch: In cinemas
• Release date: TBC
• FYI: Salt Along the Tongue was shot in Sydney with an all-female cast.

Wishes of the Blue Girl

• Director: Ryan A. Conaill
• Cast includes: Niamh Anna, Veronica Henley, Mary T Lynch
• Synopsis: In the emptiness of her vacant house, a young woman encounters unsettling occurrences, leaving her bewildered and questioning their origin. What has transpired in her surroundings, and what mysteries lie concealed within her solitude?
• Where to watch: In cinemas
• Release date: TBC
• FYI: Wishes of the Blue Girl is an Australian-Irish co production.

Kangaroo Island

• Director: Timothy David Piper
• Cast includes: Rebecca Breeds, Joel Jackson, Erik Thomson
• Synopsis: Forced to reunite with her sister as part of her father’s last wishes, a struggling Hollywood actress returns home to Kangaroo Island and confronts the love triangle that tore her family apart.
• Where to watch: In cinemas
• Release date: TBC
• FYI: The shoot is taking place on the actual Kangaroo Island, South Australia, from December 2023.

The Story of Nadia

• Director: Billy El Kaddour
• Cast includes: Johnny Sumelj, Ken Welsh, Bella Valentini
• Synopsis: After a strange reading with a fortune teller, Tyler’s world takes a bizarre turn from an otherwise mundane existence. He meets Nadia, an attractive young woman, who is cursed with a sinister demon. Tyler falls for her almost immediately, and the two embark on a wonderful romance. But with Nadia’s curse only worsening, and Tyler being haunted by the same demon, they must both decide if love really is worth going head to head with the forces of evil.
• Where to watch: In cinemas
• Release date: TBC
• FYI: The Story of Nadia is produced by Rophe Films.

The Falling Sun

• Director: Shaun Hume
• Cast includes: TBC
• Synopsis: A struggling journalist envisions his rise from obscurity when he sets up an interview with a high ranking member of a domestic terrorist organisation.
• Where to watch: In cinemas
• Release date: 24 November 2024
• FYI: The Falling Sun was originally slated for a 2022 release.

How to Make Gravy

• Director: Nick Waterman
• Cast includes: Damon Herriman, Hugo Weaving, Kate Mulvany
• Synopsis: A feature film adaptation of Australian music legend Paul Kelly’s classic song, ‘How to Make Gravy’.
• Where to watch: On Binge
• Release date: Christmas 2024
• FYI: The film will also feature cameo performances from Australian musicians, including Adam Briggs and Dallas Woods. 

Windcatcher

• Director: Tanith Glynn-Maloney
• Cast includes: Jessica McNamee, Pia Miranda, Jessica Mauboy
• Synopsis: Windcatcher is set inside the small country town of Herbertson, and follows the unlikely friendship between Percy Boy, a fast and resourceful Aboriginal boy, and the spirited Daisy Hawkins, as they band together to take home the local school sports day title from the hands of the Wolf Pack: a group of grade five bullies.
• Where to watch: In cinemas
• Release date: TBC
• FYI: A nationwide talent search was conducted for the role of Percy Boy, with 160 hopeful actors gunning for the part. Lennox Monaghan was ultimately chosen as the lead.

The Aegean

• Director: Jacob Richardson
• Cast includes: Costas Mandylor, Konstantina Koutsonasiou, Konstantinos Kladis
• Synopsis: The film tells the story of Hector, a widowed Greek fisherman who grapples with ageing in a world that seems to have forgotten him. His life takes a dramatic turn when he encounters Theodore, a resourceful and optimistic teenager in desperate need of a saviour. United by their struggles, they embark across the Aegean Sea, discovering newfound purpose and the redemptive power of friendship.
• Where to watch: In cinemas
• Release date: TBC
• FYI: The film features the debut acting performance of Greek rapper Light, who plays the ‘charming yet sinister’ businessman Khristos.

The Sloth Lane

• Director: Ricard Cussó, Tania Vincent
• Cast includes: Leslie Jones, Remy Hii, Olivia Vásquez
• Synopsis: When a young sloth moves to the big city with her family, they all must adapt to life in the fast lane, whilst remembering and honoring their familial and cultural practices.
• Where to watch: In cinemas
• Release date: TBC
• FYI: The Sloth Lane is the fourth entry in the Australian Tales From Sanctuary City franchise.

Every Little Thing

• Director: Sally Aitken
• Cast includes: TBC
• Synopsis: A woman in Hollywood cares for injured hummingbirds, experiencing personal growth as she witnesses their fragility and resilience.
• Where to watch: In cinemas
• Release date: TBC
• FYI: Sally Aitken directed Hot Potato: The Story of The Wiggles, which premiered at SXSW Sydney last year.

Kangaroo

• Director: Kate Woods
• Cast includes: TBC
• Synopsis: A heart-warming family comedy about ex-tv personality, Chris Masterson, who becomes stranded in an outback town after a car accident on his way to Broome. There, he forms an unlikely friendship with 11-year-old Indigenous girl Charlie. In Kangaroo, Chris and Charlie work together to rescue and rehabilitate orphaned joeys in the remote but stunning outback community – an endeavour that proves to be life-changing for them both.
• Where to watch: In cinemas
• Release date: TBC
• FYI: Kangaroo is based on the life of Chris Barnes, who founded the Kangaroo Sanctuary in Alice Springs.

One More Shot

• Director: Nick Clifford
• Cast includes: TBC
• Synopsis: On New Year’s Eve 1999, Minnie discovers a bottle of time travelling tequila that takes her back to the start of the night in this time loop comedy. Armed with this mysterious bottle of tequila, she hopes to win the heart of on-again-off-again-old-flame Joe, but no matter what she does, she can’t escape herself.
• Where to watch: In cinemas
• Release date: TBC
• FYI: One More Shot is written by Alice Foulcher & Greg Erdstein

Red Rock Run

• Director: Cathy Randall
• Cast includes: TBC
• Synopsis: This family feature film follows ten-year-old Lucy who is forbidden from attending the 1978 regional athletic trials as punishment for racing a delivery plane on a remote dirt airstrip. But with the help of her grandmother, she defies her Vietnam veteran father and enters the first kids’ team into the Red Rock Run, a gruelling 120km outback marathon race.
• Where to watch: In cinemas
• Release date: TBC
• FYI: Red Rock Run is funded by Screen Australia.

Spit

• Director: Jonathan Teplitzky
• Cast includes: TBC
• Synopsis: In the sequel to the award-winning crime comedy, Gettin’ Square, ex-junkie John Spitieri returns to Australia, only to find himself locked up in an Immigration Detention Centre with a massive target on his back. But as old enemies come looking for him, determined to settle old scores, he also makes new friends amongst the detainees, teaches them his version of mateship and what it means to be truly Australian
• Where to watch: In cinemas
• Release date: TBC
• FYI: Faramarz K-Rahber (Journey Beyond Fear) and Sofya Gollan (Swallowing) are attached as consultants.