• John Travolta makes his directorial debut with Propeller One-Way Night Coach, now streaming on Apple TV — adapted from his own 1997 semi-autobiographical novella about an 8-year-old boy’s first flight in December 1962
• His daughter Ella Bleu Travolta plays a flight attendant named Doris; his siblings Margaret and Ellen Travolta also appear in the film
• The film had its world premiere at Cannes — where Travolta received a lifetime achievement award and went viral for his beret — and its domestic premiere at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
• The New York Times called it a "time capsule of midcentury pleasures" that "doesn’t soar, but does reach a comfortable cruising altitude"; the film runs just over an hour and had a $20 million budget
• Cinematographer Paul De Lumen, an assistant film professor at the University of Tampa, shot the film and accompanied Travolta to Cannes

John Travolta has been many things on screen — Vinnie Barbarino, Tony Manero, Vincent Vega. On Friday, he becomes something new: a director.

Propeller One-Way Night Coach, Travolta’s debut behind the camera, begins streaming on Apple TV this week after a run that took it from the Cannes Film Festival to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The film is based on the novella Travolta published in 1997 — a semi-autobiographical story about a boy named Jeff who, on a December night in 1962, boards a cross-country flight from Idlewild Airport in New York to Los Angeles with his mother Helen, a working actress chasing a promised shot at Hollywood.

Jeff, played by newcomer Clark Shotwell, is an aviation obsessive who keeps flight schedules in a Buster Brown shoe box and watches planes from beneath the flight paths near his home. The overnight journey becomes the adventure he’s always imagined. Kelly Eviston-Quinnett plays his mother.

The family casting is hard to miss. Ella Bleu Travolta — John’s daughter — plays Doris, a flight attendant who walks the aisle toward Jeff while "The Girl From Ipanema" plays, and per the New York Times, "may well be the youngster’s first love." Margaret Travolta plays the boy’s grandmother; Ellen Travolta appears as a friendly passenger. All five of Travolta’s siblings are in the film in some capacity.

The Cannes Moment

The film screened at Cannes earlier this month, where Travolta received a lifetime achievement award from the festival — and drew just as much attention for the beret he wore on the Croisette, which quickly circulated online. He piloted his own plane to the festival. Cinematographer Paul De Lumen, who shot the film and is now an assistant professor at the University of Tampa, made the trip with him.

"To go with him and to experience the festival with his team was so beautiful," De Lumen told Fox 13. "Cannes is the top, top festival for filmmakers." De Lumen, a 20-year industry veteran, said he and Travolta shared a unified vision for the film’s perspective: "It was so fun getting in that mind frame of looking at the world through this child who’s on this great adventure with his mom."

The domestic premiere followed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York before the film’s Apple TV release.

What Critics Said

The New York Times described the film as a "time capsule of midcentury pleasures," noting its lingering shots of engines and fuselages, a soundtrack of cocktail-lounge standards, and period details including the Eero Saarinen-designed TWA Flight Center. The review acknowledged that "some viewers may find ‘Propeller’ a tad affected" but said "the wistfulness of this memory film is precisely what charms, because it’s steeped in a fondness for a bygone moment that’s so palpably personal to Travolta." The verdict: it "doesn’t soar, but it does reach a comfortable cruising altitude."

The film runs 61 minutes and carries no rating.

The post John Travolta’s Directorial Debut Is Here — and His Daughter Ella Bleu Steals a Scene appeared first on Cream.

• Ella Bleu Travolta, 26, stars as a flight attendant in her father John Travolta’s directorial debut, Propeller One-Way Night Coach
• John declared “a star is born” after a clip of Ella’s performance aired on The Tonight Show
• The father-daughter duo attended the 2026 Cannes Film Festival together, where John was surprised with an honorary Palme d’Or
• Beyond acting, Ella is a singer-songwriter whose 2024 EP Colors of Love was co-produced by her dad
• Propeller One-Way Night Coach streams on Apple TV starting May 29

John Travolta has never been shy about his pride for his daughter — but standing on the Tonight Show stage on May 19, watching a clip of Ella Bleu Travolta’s performance in his directorial debut, the Grease legend said it as plainly as he could.

“A star is born right,” he told host Jimmy Fallon, after Fallon noted that Ella was “fantastic.”

It was a big week for the Travolta family. Just days earlier, John, 72, had premiered Propeller One-Way Night Coach at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival — and walked away with a surprise he never saw coming: an honorary Palme d’Or. But standing next to his daughter on that red carpet, watching her shine at 26, clearly meant just as much.

The Film That Brought Them Together Again

Propeller One-Way Night Coach is a deeply personal project for John. The Apple TV film — which he wrote, directed and narrated — is an adaptation of his own 1997 children’s book of the same name, telling the story of his very first flight as a kid. Ella plays a flight attendant in the film, and the two attended Cannes together to promote it ahead of its May 29 streaming debut.

For Ella, the night at Cannes was something she wanted to hold onto. “I knew it was just such a special night for my whole family that I sort of made sure to put myself in the moment and really take it all in,” she told People. “And it felt very calm, actually, and very just beautiful and very emotional.”

As for John’s Palme d’Or — he genuinely had no idea it was coming. “I didn’t expect this at all,” he told Fallon, bringing the award with him to the studio. The honor had apparently been set in motion about five months earlier, after festival director Thierry Fremaux screened the film and decided to make it a special occasion — though not even Travolta’s own team was told. Only the Apple TV crew knew. “I cried,” John said. “I couldn’t believe that he felt that way.” He later posted about it on Instagram, writing: “I’ve never been more proud to win an award! To me the Cannes Palme d’Or award has always represented art at its finest. It is beyond a humbling experience.”

This isn’t the first time Ella and her father have shared a screen. Their collaboration goes back further than most people realize.

A Career That Started at Age 7

Ella Bleu Travolta was born on April 3, 2000, to John and his wife, actress Kelly Preston. She made her onscreen debut in the 2009 Disney comedy Old Dogs — alongside both of her parents — at just 7 years old. The story of how it happened is very on-brand for a kid who clearly knew her own mind: John first floated the idea when she was 5, but Ella told him she wasn’t ready. Two years later, when she changed her mind, he moved fast, locking her into a role in a film he’d already been offered. Kelly joined too, making it a full family affair.

“It was the best filming experience I’ve ever had, bar none,” Kelly said at the time while promoting the film. “It was just the greatest to be able to be in her first movie.”

Ella went on to appear alongside her dad again in 2019’s The Poison Rose, before landing her first leading role in the Alice in Wonderland-inspired film Get Lost. In 2026 alone, her IMDb credits include both Alicia in Wonderland and Propeller.

“I always jump at the opportunity to do something with my dad and we always have the most fun doing something together,” she told People in 2023.

The creative pull has been there from the beginning. “Pretty much as long as I can remember, I’ve always just loved the arts in general — acting, singing, dancing, and I grew up around it,” she told Parade in 2023. “So it was just such a natural part of my life that continuing to do that just feels right.”

Singer, Songwriter — and a Tribute to Her Mom

Acting is only part of the picture. During the pandemic, Ella started writing and recording snippets of songs on her own — and when her dad heard them, he didn’t let it go. “He was like, ‘Oh, wow, you should really finish these. You should finish these songs, and then you could record demos of them or something,'” she recalled on the 3rd hour of TODAY.

She released her first single, “Dizzy,” in 2022, followed by “Little Bird” in 2024. John co-produced her debut EP, Colors of Love, which also dropped in 2024.

“He’s amazing and he’s so protective because he’s been in this industry — in the movie industry, in the music industry — forever, so he knows how to protect me in that sense,” Ella said.

“Little Bird” carries a weight that goes beyond a debut single. It’s a tribute to Kelly Preston, who died in July 2020 at 57 after a private battle with breast cancer — a loss that shook the family deeply, coming just over a decade after the death of Ella’s older brother Jett, who suffered a fatal seizure at 16 while the family was vacationing in the Bahamas in 2009. John and Kelly later welcomed a third child, son Benjamin, in November 2010.

The music video for “Little Bird” features family footage, and Ella has spoken about what the song means to her. “This was sort of my message from a baby bird to a mama bird,” she said on TODAY. “And also to yourself too, because you will always know what’s right.”

Fashion, Painting, and What Comes Next

Ella has also been quietly building a presence in the fashion world. John celebrated her New York Fashion Week debut in 2022 with an Instagram post — “So proud of Ella’s debut at fashion week in New York City!” — and she’s been leaning into it more since. “I do love fashion. I’m definitely finding myself more and more in the fashion world,” she said on the Tea Time podcast in 2025, adding that she’d love to design something someday. “I think it would be really, really cool.”

Her creative interests don’t stop there. “I love painting as well,” she said. “And as long as I have some creative outlet, I’m happy.”

The mutual admiration between father and daughter runs deep. John told People in 2019: “She is her own person. She is gracious, generous, poised, graceful and gorgeous. I don’t know how she came to be, and I don’t take any credit other than just adoring her. And maybe that’s a valid contribution.”

Ella, for her part, is just as devoted. “He’s my biggest fan, and I’m his biggest fan, so there’s a lot of support going on,” she told Parade. “I learn so much from him, all the time.”

Oh — and there’s one more milestone she’s hoping for. She’d love to record a Christmas duet with her dad someday.

Given how this year has gone for the Travoltas, it doesn’t seem far off.

The post Ella Travolta Steps Into the Spotlight With Dad John appeared first on Cream.

• John Travolta, 72, piloted his own plane to Cannes for the world premiere of his directorial debut, Propeller One-Way Night Coach
• He hit the red carpet with daughter Ella Bleu, 26, who stars in the film, in a rare public appearance together
• Travolta wrote, directed, narrated and produced the film — an adaptation of his own 1997 illustrated book
• The movie, which he calls his most personal project ever, streams globally on Apple TV+ on May 29
• Travolta has been a licensed pilot since age 22 and has qualified to fly Boeing 747s, 737s and luxury jets

If anyone was going to fly themselves to Cannes, it was always going to be John Travolta.

The Grease legend, 72, made his entrance at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival in the most fitting way possible — piloting his own plane to the French Riviera for the world premiere of Propeller One-Way Night Coach, his directorial debut. Daughter Ella Bleu, 26, was right there beside him, both on the runway and on the red carpet.

In a video shared to Instagram on May 15, Travolta and Ella are seen standing outside his plane before takeoff, grinning as he announced their destination. “So, we’re going for the world premiere of Propeller One-Way Night Coach,” he said. “Ella and I are really excited about this. So, we’ll see you there.”

Then came the moment that felt very on-brand: Travolta settling into the pilot’s seat. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking,” he said. “Our flying time tonight to Nice, France is eight hours and 45 minutes. Sit back, enjoy the flight, and the champagne is on me.”

A Father-Daughter Moment on the Cannes Red Carpet

Ahead of the premiere on the evening of May 15, Travolta and Ella made a rare red carpet appearance together — and they both showed up. Travolta wore a sharp black suit with a white tie, topping the look off with a white beret that instantly became the talking point of the night. Ella, meanwhile, was stunning in a black velvet dress, her hair flipped in a way that gave serious retro glamour, finished with dangling silver earrings.

It was the kind of father-daughter moment that stops people in their tracks.

Why This Film Means Everything to Him

Propeller One-Way Night Coach is an adaptation of Travolta’s own 1997 illustrated book of the same name — a family-friendly story about a young aviation enthusiast making a one-way cross-country journey to Hollywood with his mother. The film stars Ella alongside Clark Shotwell, Kelly Eviston-Quinnett and Olga Hoffmann, with Travolta narrating throughout.

In the trailer, Travolta’s voice sets the scene as young Jeff, played by Shotwell, boards the titular flight — a journey through Pittsburgh, Chicago, Kansas City, Denver and eventually Los Angeles — marveling at things like “eating a hot dog at 600 miles an hour” while Ella’s character, Doris the stewardess, looks on with a smile.

Travolta has described the project as the most personal film he’s ever made. “It’s really a mixture of my sister and my mother because they both influenced me so deeply,” he said. “They were responsible for all my hopes and dreams, and they watched me make them come true.” He added: “So, this is just a little taste of my origins and what it was like to be me when I was little.”

His lifelong love of aviation is the heartbeat of the whole thing. Travolta has been a licensed pilot since he was 22 years old and has qualified to fly everything from the Boeing 747, 707 and 737 to luxury jets like the Bombardier Global Express. He’s also served as an ambassador for Qantas Airways since 2002.

Travolta shares Ella and 15-year-old son Benjamin with his late wife Kelly Preston, who passed away in 2020 at 57 after a private battle with breast cancer. The couple also shared son Jett, who died at 16 in 2009.

Propeller One-Way Night Coach premieres globally on Apple TV+ on May 29.

The post John Travolta Pilots His Own Plane to Cannes With Daughter Ella appeared first on Cream.