Will Australia Epic Reel In Tourism?

Not likely. The country could learn a thing or two from New Zealand, home of Lord of the Rings.

The Australian tourism industry has banked millions of dollars on Australia, Baz Luhrmann's new 165-minute movie epic, which stars Nicole Kidman as a haughty English dame seduced by the rugged Hugh Jackman amid the grandiose Australian landscape. Already, signs are not looking good. Several critics at home and abroad have panned the movie, and uninspiring viewing figures so far mean that Australia is unlikely to send tourists to the Outback in droves.

But over in neighboring New Zealand, tour operators are still flush from the phenomenal success of director Peter Jackson's Lord Of The Rings trilogy, which was filmed all over the country. The adventures of Frodo Baggins captivated the imagination of moviegoers between 2001 and 2003, and wannabe Hobbits have been seeking out Middle Earth ever since. It's doubtful that Australia, which is set in the 1940s and traces the history of a cattle station, will replicate this success.