Stan picks up rights to True History of the Kelly Gang

Russell Crowe’s splashy new movie True History of the Kelly Gang has been picked up by a streaming service in Australia.

Star-studded Australian epic True History of the Kelly Gang is headed for streaming.

This morning, Stan announced it acquired the rights to Russell Crowe’s True History of the Kelly Gang, which will be released on the streaming service this summer.

The movie is a fictionalised biography of the infamous bushranger Ned Kelly and is based on the Booker Prize-winning novel by Peter Carey. It will track Kelly from his younger days until his death.

True History of the Kelly Gang features British actor George MacKay (Captain Fantastic, Ophelia) as Kelly while Crowe plays Harry Power, a bushranger who worked with a teenage Kelly.

The film has an international cast that also features Nicholas Hoult, Thomasin McKenzie, Charlie Hunnam, Essie Davis and Claudia Karvan.

Russell Crowe’s new movie is heading to Stan

True History of the Kelly Gang had its global premiere at Toronto International Film Festival to mostly positive reviews. The movie was directed by Justin Kurzel (Snowtown, Macbeth) and written by Kurzel and Shaun Grant.

Stan said the movie will also be released into cinemas through distributor Transmission, but has not confirmed whether this will be on the same day or in a limited theatrical window first.

Last year, Stan released as an original film The Second, which starred Susie Porter, Vince Colosimo and Rachael Blake. The Second had a two-week run in cinemas from July 5 before the movie was released on Stan on July 20.

The theatrical window — the time between when a movie is in cinemas and when it’s made available on home entertainment platforms such as streaming, digital rental or pay TV — has become contentious ground in recent years.

British actor George MacKay stars as Ned Kelly

Streamers such as Netflix are increasingly collaborating with high-profile filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese, Alfonso Cuaron, Noah Baumbach and Steven Soderbergh.

Cinema chains see Netflix’s model as a threat to their future financial viability and will not release Netflix movies theatrically unless Netflix observes the traditional three-month theatrical window in the US, which it won’t do.

Filmmakers like Scorsese want their movies to be seen on a big screen, which is also a requirement for many award bodies such as the Oscars. Streamers are selective with the films they decide to release into cinemas, and generally only smaller cinema chains or independent theatres will accept them.

Netflix movie The King, starring Timothee Chalamet and directed by Australian David Michod, will be released in 10 Australian cinemas from October 11 before its streaming release on November 1.

For some filmmakers, a streaming platform offers a wider audience than a theatrical release.

Earlier this week, Joel Edgerton told Indiewire while promoting The King that he still regretted not taking a streaming deal for Boy Erased.

He said: “The moment you put something on a streaming platform, everybody in every household in all these countries can see it at the exact same time.”

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