Twentieth Century Fox has moved Baz Luhrmann's Australia into the lucrative Thanksgiving weekend slot, announcing that it will release the adventure saga in North America on November 26.

The film was originally scheduled to open on November 14 however studio chiefs took the decision to move it after Warner Bros switched the release of Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince from November 21 to July 2009.

Australia, a second world war epic starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, will roll out across the rest of the world at Christmas as originally planned.

Fox's president of domestic distribution Bruce Snyder called the move 'a big win', adding: 'It's only a 12-day move, but the new date is an event weekend-one of the busiest movie-going periods of the year-and one truly befitting this Baz Luhrmann motion picture event.'