Alan Ritchson, Charlize Theron and Florence Pugh are among the stars to headline Netflix’s 2026 Australia/New Zealand edition.
The line-up includes several high-profile international productions that utilize Australian locations and staff. Victorian film director Patrick Hughes returns home to helm action science fiction feature War Machine, which was shot in Bright, Myrtleford, Melbourne and Docklands Studios. The film is set in the final 24 hours of an elite military selection program and stars Ritchson alongside Dennis Quaid, Stephen James, Jai Courtney, Esai Morales, Blake Richardson, Keiynan Lonsdale and Daniel Webber. Hughes co-wrote the script with James Beaufort. Todd Lieberman and Alexander Young will produce for Hidden Pictures, Patrick Hughes and Greg McLean will produce for Huge Film, and Rich Cook will produce for Range. It will be broadcast for the first time on March 6th.
Theron toplined Baltasar Kormakur’s action thriller film Apex, which was shot in the Blue Mountains and Canberra. The film, which will be released on April 24 and also stars Taron Egerton and Eric Bana, follows a grieving woman who tests her limits in the Australian wilderness and finds herself caught up in a deadly game. Produced by Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping and David Reddy for Chernin Entertainment, Ian Blythe for Ian Blythe Productions, Charlize Theron, AJ Dicks and Beth Kono for Secret Menu, and Kormakur for RVK Studios.
Pugh headlined East of Eden, a modern reinterpretation of John Steinbeck’s classic novel filmed in New Zealand. Exploring the multigenerational story of the Trask family with a new focus on anti-hero Kathy Ames, the limited series stars Christopher Abbott, Mike Feist, Hung Lee, Tracy Letts, Martha Plimpton, Ciarán Hinds, Joseph Zada and Joe Anders. Zoe Kazan will serve as co-showrunner, writer and executive producer alongside co-showrunner Jeb Stewart. The film is directed and executive produced by Garth Davis and Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, and produced by Fifth Season and Anonymous Content.
The third and final season of “Heartbreak High” will premiere on March 25th and follows the Hartley High School graduates as they overcome a botched revenge prank. Created by Hannah Carol Chapman, the Fremantle Australia and NewBe series stars Aisha Maddon, James Majew, Chloe Hayden, Asher Jasvinsek and Thomas Weatherall.
Netflix has also released a first look at My Brilliant Career, an adaptation of Miles Franklin’s iconic novel that was filmed in Adelaide. The series stars Philippa Northeast as Sybilla, a young Australian woman in 1901 who decides to become a writer despite her family’s marriage plans. The series, adapted and written by Liz Dolan, is directed by Alyssa McClelland and Anne Renton and produced by Jungle Entertainment.
“My glorious career”
Netflix
Other Australian productions include the film Allen from Ludo Studios (makers of Bluey) starring TJ Power. Produced by Daily Pearson and filmed in Brisbane and the Gold Coast. and Breakers, the first Netflix series to be filmed in Western Australia. The latter, from Clerkenwell Films and BBC Studios Australia Productions, stars Antony Starr, Defarao Ooun-Atai, Oliver Edith and Annabelle Woolf, and is a drama about two American backpackers drawn into a mysterious surfing community. Directed by Mary Nye and Ng Chun-ping from a screenplay by Pete Jackson.
Directed by Peter Berg, Mosquito Bowl is based on Buzz Bissinger’s book about college football stars who join the Marines after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and was filmed in Brisbane and the Gold Coast. The World War II drama stars Nicholas Galitzine, Bill Skarsgard, Ray Nicholson, Tom Francis, Brent Comer, and Dominic Bogart, and was written by Berg and Mark L. Smith. Peter Berg will serve as a producer on Film 44 along with Brian Grazer and Alex Gaynor of Imagine Entertainment.
The unscripted “The Golden Ticket” was filmed on the Gold Coast in association with Eureka Productions. In this competition series, contestants are challenged to find the Golden Ticket and navigate the game in a retro-futuristic dream world inspired by the world of Roald Dahl.
The animation includes “Stranger Things: Tales From ’85,” produced by Sydney-based Flying Bark Productions and executive produced by the Duffer Brothers, and “Steps,” a reimagining of Cinderella by Netflix Animation Studios, produced in Sydney and co-animated with Vancouver. The latter is voiced by Ali Wong and Stephanie Hsu, and produced by Amy Poehler, Jane Hartwell, and Kim Lessing.
This is the first appointment overseen by Amanda Duthie, Netflix’s newly appointed director of content for the region.
“Throughout my career, I have seen that local stories resonate most powerfully when they are deeply specific and true to the characters, the community, and the moment in time,” Dassey said. “This 2026 plan brings together stories that vary widely in tone, scale and ambition from every corner of the region.”
Since 2021, Netflix has invested more than A$10 million ($7 million) in building capacity across the Australian and New Zealand film industry through paid introductions, training and development initiatives, particularly for emerging and underrepresented practitioners.
