Cannes 2026 Opens With Peter Jackson, Jane Fonda and James Franco

The 79th Cannes Film Festival got its honorary Palme d’Or moment right. Peter Jackson — the man who turned J.R.R. Tolkien’s impossible dream into three of the most beloved films ever made — touched down on the Croisette Tuesday night to accept cinema’s most prestigious honorary award, and he brought the whole family with him.

Jackson arrived at the iconic Palais des Festivals with his kids, Katie and Billy, alongside longtime collaborators Ken Kamins and Carlos Ramírez Laloli for the opening photo call. Then came the red carpet, where he flashed a thumbs up to the wall of photographers before heading inside for the ceremony ahead of the opening night film, The Electric Kiss, a French romantic comedy set in the 1920s.

The honor, per the official Cannes release, was given “in recognition of a body of work that blends Hollywood blockbusters and films d’auteur with extraordinary artistic vision and technological audacity.” Festival director Thierry Frémaux put it even more plainly when he announced the award: “There is clearly a before and an after Peter Jackson. Larger-than-life cinema is his trademark, and his all-encompassing art of entertainment is particularly ambitious. He has permanently transformed Hollywood cinema and its conception of the spectacle.”

Jackson, for his part, was gracious. “To be honoured with an Honorary Palme d’Or at Cannes is one of the greatest privileges of my career,” he said. “Cannes has been a meaningful part of my filmmaking journey. In 1988, I attended the Festival Marketplace with my first movie, Bad Taste, then in 2001 we screened a preview sequence from The Fellowship of the Ring, both of which were important milestones in my career. This festival has always celebrated bold, visionary cinema, and I’m incredibly grateful to the Festival de Cannes for being recognised among the filmmakers and the artists whose work continues to inspire me.”

A Cannes Moment That Changed Everything

That 2001 visit deserves its own paragraph. New Line Cinema had bet more than $270 million on three simultaneous films based on Tolkien — a gamble widely considered reckless at the time. Then Jackson screened 26 minutes of footage from The Fellowship of the Ring for the Cannes press, and the skeptics went quiet.

Ian McKellen, who played Gandalf, was there and wrote about it on his blog afterward: “With relief and some excitement I can report that Peter Jackson’s images not only look convincing, they look stunning.” New Line then threw one of the most legendary parties in festival history — up on a hill at the Château Castellaras, where, according to the fan site TheOneRing.net, “Orcs, hobbits, elves and men were dancing wildly to French versions of ‘Oh What a Night’ and the latest Latin offerings,” before a massive Bilbo Baggins birthday cake floated through the crowd to a “strange/disturbing version of Happy Birthday.”

Twenty-five years later, the man who made all of that happen is getting his flowers. It was a long time coming.

The Rest of the Opening Night Crowd

Jackson wasn’t the only headline on the carpet. Jane Fonda showed up in a shimmering black dress and a bejeweled necklace that looked like it could’ve been borrowed from the set of Titanic — she brought the Hollywood star power that this year’s lineup has otherwise been lacking. Diego Luna, also in attendance, was spotted huddling in the lobby with his Y tu mamá también director Alfonso Cuarón before the ceremony began.

And then there was James Franco. The actor, whose career was derailed by allegations of sexually inappropriate behavior, appeared on the Croisette alongside Jordan Firstman, star of I Love LA, whose feature Club Kid is playing at the festival. Franco’s presence was low-key — the wall of photographers’ flashing cameras reportedly went dark for long stretches during the opening ceremony — but his attendance was noted.

The jury assembled for photos earlier in the day: Park Chan-wook serves as president, with Demi Moore (wearing Jacquemus with Hassanzadeh London jewelry), Chloé Zhao, Stellan Skarsgård, Ruth Negga, Laura Wandel, Isaach de Bankolé, and Diego Céspedes rounding out the group.

A Festival Feeling the Pressure

This is also Thierry Frémaux’s 25th edition at the helm of Cannes — a tenure that’s survived streaming wars, a pandemic, and no shortage of political turbulence. But the energy on the Croisette this year feels different. Hollywood studios are pulling back from big festival splurges, AI anxiety is hanging over every creative conversation, and the absence of major blockbusters is hard to miss.

There had been real hope that Christopher Nolan might bring The Odyssey or Steven Spielberg might arrive with Disclosure Day — neither happened. Previous editions had Tom Cruise premiering Mission: Impossible sequels and Harrison Ford unveiling Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. This year, Cannes is leaning into its arthouse identity, with Pedro Almodóvar’s Bitter Christmas, Paweł Pawlikowski’s Fatherland, and Cristian Mungiu’s Fjord carrying the competition weight.

Whether that’s a pivot or just a down year depends on who you ask. But watching Peter Jackson take that stage Tuesday night — thumbs up, kids in tow, the spirit of Middle-earth somehow present on the French Riviera — it was hard to argue that Cannes had lost its magic entirely.

The festival runs through May 23.