This may turn out to be a premature and fanciful call but 2014 is shaping as potentially one of the strongest years for Australian films, commercially and critically, in recent memory.
Director Jonathan Teplitzky, writer Chris Nyst and producer Chris Brown are developing Mr Cranky, a black comedy in the vein of their 2003 hit Gettin' Square.
Close to 2,600 people awarded The Railway Man with an extended standing ovation at the film's Gala premiere screening at the Toronto International Film Festival this year.
The gamble of launching The Railway Man in the ultra-competitive Boxing Day slot has paid off for the producers and distributor Transmission Films.
Jonathan Teplitzy's The Railway Man rolled out on more than 400 screens in the UK last weekend and posted very solid numbers, despite the polarized reactions from Pommie critics.
THE RAILWAY MAN, the British/Australian film starring Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman, has reached $7m at the Australian box office, making it one of the most successful Australian films of recent years.
The profile of Australian films in the US looks set to rise in the next two months with the debuts of Wolf Creek 2, The Railway Man and Tracks.
The Weinstein Co. paid a reported US$2 million for North American rights to The Railway Man after its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last September -but has waited more than six months to launch the film in the US.