One of Australia’s most beloved films is getting a spectacular new life in Sydney. Crocodile Dundee will return to the big screen in stunning 4K next February, accompanied by a full live orchestra performing composer Peter Best’s evocative original score in perfect synchronisation with the film.
The special Crocodile Dundee In Concert experience will take over Darling Harbour Theatre at ICC Sydney on Friday, 5th February and Saturday, 6th February 2027, giving audiences the chance to revisit Mick Dundee’s outback adventures on a much bigger scale.
Mick Dundee is back on the big screen
First released in 1986, Crocodile Dundee became a global phenomenon and transformed Paul Hogan’s larrikin bushman into one of Australia’s most recognisable fictional characters.
Hogan plays Mick “Crocodile” Dundee, a fearless and easy-going bushman whose unconventional approach to life collides spectacularly with the concrete jungle of New York City.
The story follows American journalist Sue Charlton, who heads into the Australian Outback to investigate the remarkable tale of a man who survived a crocodile attack. After Mick saves her life, the pair strike up an unlikely romance, eventually taking their adventure from the bush to Manhattan.
Nearly four decades later, the film remains deeply embedded in Australia’s popular culture. And now, audiences can experience it in a way they never have before.
A live orchestra will bring the score to life
The 4K screening will be accompanied by a full orchestra performing Peter Best’s original score live, bringing the film’s iconic soundtrack to life in the theatre.
Moreover, Best’s music is inseparable from the film’s sense of place, moving between sweeping Australian landscapes and the bright lights of Manhattan.
His compositions combine guitar and orchestra with distinctly Australian sounds, including didgeridoo, claves and wobble board, creating the expansive soundscape that helped define the film.
For Best, the process of scoring Crocodile Dundee involved repeatedly returning to the film and discovering what each scene needed. “The composer tends to be somebody who sees the film more often than anybody else. I was running the final sequence over and over and had the idea that it just needed rhythm, no music, just a single angle through note, and it all developed from there.”
And according to Best, that enduring appeal comes down to the film’s warmth, humour and simplicity. Speaking in March 2025, he said: “Crocodile Dundee intrigued the world with its sense of humour, laconic quality, simplicity and charm. It’s a very charming film. There’s something for everybody in Crocodile Dundee.”
The film plays with the contrast between the Australian bush and New York City, while Mick’s straightforward worldview repeatedly collides with the conventions of modern urban life. That disjunction helped make the film an international hit while giving audiences around the world an introduction to a particular idea of Australia.
As The Australian Weekend Magazine noted in 2025, the film remains a defining part of how Australia is perceived overseas. “Ask an American, even today, what they know about Australia, and chances are they’ll say ‘Crocodile Dundee’ and repeat the film’s most famous line: ‘That’s not a knife…that’s a knife’.”
Key details
- What: Crocodile Dundee In Concert
- Where: Darling Harbour Theatre, ICC Sydney
- When: Friday, 5th February 2027 — 7pm + Saturday, 6th February 2027 — 1pm
- Tickets: On sale from 10am on Wednesday, 7th October
