‘Kangaroo’: Australian Movie Shows “There’s A Healing Power In Animals” & Is Bringing Some Love To The Local Box Office

Welcome to Global Breakouts, Deadline’s fortnightly strand in which we shine a spotlight on the TV shows and films killing it in their local territories. The industry is as globalized as it’s ever been, but breakout hits are emerging in pockets of the world all the time and it can be hard to keep track. That’s why we’re doing the hard work for you.
 
After debuting in Australian cinemas in September, Kate Woods’ heartwarming Kangaroo quickly became the highest-grossing local movie of the year in the market. The family comedy about an unlikely friendship and a group of the titular marsupials has grossed $6.3 million in Australia and New Zealand to date, and $8.5 million globally. It has been sold in 40 markets, though is still seeking a U.S. deal, with upcoming releases including Indonesia (December 3), UK (January 30, 2026) and Netherlands (April 15, 2026).
 
Name: Kangaroo
Country: Australia
Producers: Studiocanal Australia, Bunya Productions,  Brindle Films
Distributor: Studiocanal (Australia)
International Sales: Studiocanal
For fans of: Fly Away Home, Free Willy, Looking for Alibrandi 
 
Kangaroo stars Ryan Corr (House of the Dragon) as former TV personality Chris Masterman, who becomes stranded in an Outback town where he teams up with 12-year-old Indigenous girl Charlie (newcomer Lily Whiteley) to rescue and rehabilitate orphaned joeys. The cast also features Deborah Mailman, Brooke Satchwell, Rachel House and Wayne Blair.
 
Director Woods, who had been working in television in the U.S., returned to her native Australia to make the film, her first feature since 2000’s Looking for Alibrandi. 
 
Set and filmed on location in the Australian Red Centre town of Alice Springs, on Arrernte Country, and Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach on the traditional land and waters of the Bidjigal, Birrabirragal and Gadigal Peoples, Kangaroo is inspired by the life of Chris ‘Brolga’ Barns, founder of The Kangaroo Sanctuary, Alice Springs. 
 
Woods was not familiar with Brolga’s sanctuary, but tells Deadline that when she first visited, “I thought, oh I have to do this.” Brolga “is such an engaging and wonderful guy, and what he’s doing is so great. And you do literally fall in love with those little, tiny creatures immediately. There’s a healing power in animals.”
 
And all of the young kangaroos (the joeys) were in fact real creatures rather than CGI. “They were all real and not trainable,” Woods recalls. “You kind of just have to let them do their thing. They were delightful to work with because they’re very affectionate.”
 
Casting the human characters was aided by Bunya and Brindle, “Who pretty much make all the premier Indigenous films in Australia,” Woods said. Because the production was shooting in an area of the Outback “that is kind of sacred,” the Aboriginal elders were brought in and the producers “were amazing at getting the local community on board.”
 
Woods was particularly keen to “bust a few myths about” Australia and show kangaroos “in a different light, to show our Outback in a different light… It just felt like a really great opportunity to sort of expand on that and give it a fresh look, particularly for a younger audience.”
 
Woods continues, “Usually, you see things like kangaroos at a distance. And also, this is about saving babies, which you don’t often see, and we had an opportunity to introduce these little creatures as individual characters… They’re wild animals, and you’re used to seeing them out in the wild, so this was very different. And also, the Outback is often seen as a harsh place. I really wanted to show it as a very thriving place. It’s a thriving community in the middle of Australia, in the middle of this desert. And how it’s full of life, and very sort of a joyful look at it… Often with Indigenous filmmaking, it’s showing their history, which is not as joyful, but it was lovely to see them in this other way. We had the absolute crème de la crème of Indigenous cast in it.”

“I don’t think there was one person on the crew that didn’t a fly”

Apart from working with untrained animals, were there any other challenges? Says Woods, “The flies. Literally, you have to wear a veil. I don’t think there was one person on the crew that didn’t swallow a fly. I think they ate bug spray for breakfast,” she laughs. Ultimately, “one of the biggest post-production visual effects was removing the flies.”
 
And regarding the success of the film? “You never, ever expect [it], because you just don’t know how it’s going to go down. But I’m really delighted. Of course you set out to sort of make it as engaging as possible, so that people will respond to it. But there’s nothing like sitting in a theater and people laugh in the right place, and there’s a bit of a tearjerker; I love a bit of sadness as well, with the fun… The number of people that actually get tearful really, really amazes me, but it’s great when you see that kind of response, and also we found that it’s not just kids or younger people, but grandparents are taking their kids to it and loving it. So it sort of was across all kinds of age groups, which is great. And I honestly thought it would be more a film for girls, but guys seem to love it too.”
 
This is the first feature from the Australian production arm of Studiocanal, produced in partnership with Bunya Productions and Brindle Films. It was made with the support of Screen Territory, Screen NSW Made in NSW Fund and Screen Australia.