Rupert Murdoch press to ‘Australia’: Drop dead

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Despite his openly conservative views and stewardship of the always right-leaning Fox News channel, home to Sean Hannity and a thousand Obama-linked-to-terrorists theories, Rupert Murdoch seems to give his newspapers an astoundingly free rein to befriend or backstab whomever they want. As the New York Times recently noted, when it became apparent that Barack Obama would win the presidency, the New York Post -- which had endorsed John McCain -- began a serious charm offensive, publishing warm ‘n cuddly stories about Obama’s family life and running flattering front-page photos, with such headlines as ‘Dashing’ and ‘One Cool Dude.’

Cynics would say this is simply Murdoch’s way of ingratiating himself with the new man in the White House, noting that the media baron is a master of going the way the wind is blowing. If so, that bodes ill for ‘Australia,’ Fox’s costly new Baz Luhrmann film that has been getting most of its negative press from the Murdoch camp. (Just how costly the movie is has become a Hollywood guessing game, with Fox admitting to $130 million, while rivals claim the film’s budget is closer to $200 million.) First, Australia’s Murdoch-owned Sunday Telegraph reported that Fox executives had pressured Luhrmann into changing the ending of the film after the movie received ‘disastrous reviews’ at early test screenings. The claim was rebutted by Fox’s Tom Rothman, who said the studio loved the film and had given Luhrmann total control of the movie.

But now the Murdoch-owned New York Post is sniping at the film. One Post critic has linked to lukewarm early reviews from Australia. Another Post writer, blogger-critic Kyle Smith, ran a post today with the headline: ‘ ‘Australia’ Looking Dead as a Road-Kill Wombat,’ full of derisive shots at the film. Smith termed the film a ‘looming flop,’ seemingly ‘ruthlessly engineered for the goal of losing money.’ He adds: ‘Let’s see, stars that aren’t actually draws? ... Obese running time? ... Dusty long-ago historical subject matter, story line impossible to summarize or even approximate in TV ads? ... Check. Check. Check.’

While it’s true that the film’s TV ads aren’t especially eye-popping and the bland images on the movie’s billboards appear lifted from an Australian tourist bureau brochure, one has to wonder: Why has the film provoked so much venom from Murdoch’s own newspapers? Are they just showing their editorial independence? Or do they know something the rest of us don’t? I’m going to an ‘Australia’ screening tomorrow to see for myself. Let’s just say that Murdoch’s press corps has done a great job of lowering my expectations.

Photo: Rupert Murdoch. Credit: Daniel Acker / Bloomberg News