• Barbra Streisand, 84, announced she cannot attend the Cannes Film Festival closing ceremony due to a knee injury
• She was set to receive an Honorary Palme d’Or on May 23 at the Grand Théâtre Lumière — what would have been her Croisette debut
• The festival says it will proceed with a tribute to Streisand despite her absence
• Streisand is the third honorary Palme d’Or recipient at the 79th Cannes, joining Peter Jackson and John Travolta

Barbra Streisand will not be making her long-awaited Cannes debut after all. The legendary singer, actress, and filmmaker announced Sunday that a knee injury will keep her from attending the Cannes Film Festival’s closing ceremony, where she was set to receive an Honorary Palme d’Or — the most prestigious honor the festival can bestow.

“On the advice of my doctors, as I continue recovering from a knee injury, I am sadly unable to attend the Festival de Cannes this year,” the 84-year-old said in a statement. “But I am deeply honored to receive the Honorary Palme d’Or and had so been looking forward to celebrating the remarkable films of the 79th edition.”

The ceremony was scheduled for May 23 at the Grand Théâtre Lumière in Cannes — and it would have marked Streisand’s very first appearance on the Croisette. Despite a career that has spanned decades and crossed virtually every corner of entertainment, she had never had a film in competition or otherwise at the festival. This was supposed to be the moment.

“I was also very much looking forward to spending time with colleagues whom I so admire — and, of course, returning to France, a place I have always loved,” she added. “While I regret that I can’t be there in person, I want to extend my warmest congratulations to all of the filmmakers from around the world whose extraordinary talent and creative vision are being celebrated this year. My heartfelt thanks to the Festival, and to everyone who continues to support and champion the art of cinema.”

The Tribute Will Still Happen

The festival confirmed it will go ahead with its planned tribute to Streisand at the closing ceremony regardless. “Unfortunately, the Festival has just been informed that Ms. Barbra Streisand will be unable to attend the ceremony at the Grand Théâtre Lumière in Cannes,” organizers said in a press release, adding that “Iris Knobloch, Thierry Frémaux and the entire Festival team send Barbra Streisand their warmest wishes for a prompt recovery.”

When the honor was first announced, both Knobloch and Frémaux were effusive in their praise. “This year, we were keen to pay tribute to an artist who made her mark through the power of her art and her uncompromising pursuit of freedom,” Knobloch said. “As a woman, I am delighted to be able to express our admiration for this consummate creator and courageous citizen, whose example stands the test of time and continues to inspire.”

Frémaux was equally warm. “She is the legendary synthesis between Broadway and Hollywood, between the music hall stage and the big screen,” he said. “Hearing her sing and seeing her perform are part of our best years.”

Streisand joins Peter Jackson, who was honored at the festival’s opening ceremony, and John Travolta, who received a surprise honorary Palme d’Or on Friday ahead of the premiere of his directorial debut, Propeller One-Way Night Coach. Three honorary Palmes in a single edition is a remarkable gesture from a festival that doesn’t hand them out lightly.

For Streisand — an EGOT winner whose career stretches from Funny Girl to Yentl to her landmark 2023 memoir — the recognition from Cannes carries its own particular weight. The festival’s tribute will go on May 23 with or without her in the room. And knowing Barbra, the room will feel her presence anyway.

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• Peter Jackson received an honorary Palme d’Or at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival opening ceremony on May 12
• Elijah Wood, who played Frodo Baggins in the LOTR trilogy, presented the award and gave an emotional speech
• Jackson admitted he was shocked, saying “I just don’t make Palme d’Or-type films”
• The honor comes on the 25th anniversary of Jackson screening Lord of the Rings footage at Cannes — a moment he says saved the franchise
• Jackson also weighed in on AI in film and explained why Andy Serkis, not him, is directing the upcoming Hunt for Gollum

Peter Jackson has never had a film in Cannes competition. He makes giant, sprawling, genre-defying epics about hobbits and Beatles and brain-splattered aliens in New Zealand. He wore a tuxedo shirt to his own honorary Palme d’Or ceremony — and almost paired it with shorts, just to see what would happen.

None of that stopped the 79th Cannes Film Festival from honoring the director with one of cinema’s most prestigious awards Tuesday night, and honestly? The whole thing felt exactly right.

Jackson, 64, received the Honorary Palme d’Or during the festival’s opening ceremony at the Palais’ Grand Lumière Theatre, presented by none other than Elijah Wood — the actor who played Frodo Baggins in Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy and who, by his own account, had his entire life rerouted the moment he got that casting call.

Elijah Wood’s Speech Will Make You Feel Things

Wood, 45, took the stage with his wife, Danish film producer Mette-Marie Kongsved, by his side. What followed was one of those rare award ceremony speeches that actually earns its standing ovation.

He described how Jackson and his partner Fran Walsh had flown to Los Angeles after watching a VHS audition tape Wood had filmed with friends in the woods of Griffith Park. “I walked into Victoria Burrows’ casting office and there they were, Pete and Fran, together as they’d been for almost every day since they first met sometime in the late ’80s,” Wood said.

“And when, a little while later, the call came that I was going to be Frodo Baggins, I sat down on the floor of my bedroom and I understood with the whole of my being that my life had just been divided into before and after. And I know I’m far from the only person who has had their life changed by Peter Jackson.”

He continued: “Peter grew up in a country that back then barely had a film industry at all. But in true Pete fashion, that was not about to hold him back. You showed the world something it had never seen before, and nothing was ever the same. He helped build an entirely new filmmaking culture at the far edge of the world.”

Jackson accepted the trophy with a hug and immediately lightened the mood, noting that he’d “grown a little bit of facial hair” since they first met 27 years ago and joking that Wood’s cheekbones might qualify him for a Gone With the Wind remake.

How Cannes Saved The Lord of the Rings

Jackson’s history with Cannes is a full-circle story 38 years in the making. He first came to the festival marketplace in 1988 with his debut feature Bad Taste, a splatter comedy he’d shot on weekends over four years while working as a photo engraver back home in New Zealand. “If the film hadn’t sold well at the marketplace here, I would have gone back to New Zealand to my photo engraver job,” he told the crowd. “Fortunately, it sold really well. It started my career.”

The second visit, in 2001, was higher stakes and more fraught. Jackson and New Line Cinema had just finished shooting all three Lord of the Rings films simultaneously — an enormous, unprecedented gamble — and the press was not being kind. The AOL-Time Warner merger had thrown Warner Bros. into chaos, and the dominant media narrative was that this massive fantasy trilogy was going to be a catastrophic failure.

New Line founder Bob Shaye decided to do something about it. He rushed 20 minutes of footage from The Fellowship of the Ring to Cannes, screened it, and threw a party at a castle in the hills. The reception was rapturous. The story changed overnight.

“Bob’s great gamble really changed the perception of the film,” Jackson said. “And for me obviously, it was a life-changing thing. So by the time the film came out there was an anticipation that there wouldn’t have been if not for Cannes.”

That franchise ultimately won 17 Oscars. Tuesday night, it brought Jackson back to the Croisette for his third visit — this time to collect a Palme.

“I Just Don’t Make Palme d’Or-Type Films”

At a public masterclass the following day in the Debussy Theatre, Jackson was characteristically self-deprecating about the whole thing. He said receiving the honorary Palme felt about as likely as winning an award for bellydancing.

“I just don’t make Palme d’Or-type films,” he said, grinning. “I really like the idea of having a Palme d’Or without having to make a film.”

Cannes chief Thierry Frémaux had framed the honor rather more grandly before the festival: “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. Peter Jackson is not only a great technician; he is above all a tremendous storyteller. And an unpredictable artist: what will his next universe be?”

Jackson admitted he was very tempted to wear a tuxedo jacket with shorts to the ceremony — a small act of rebellion against Cannes’ notoriously strict dress code — but ultimately “didn’t have the courage.”

The masterclass also surfaced a gem from his early career: multiple clips from his work were screened, including Heavenly Creatures, the 1994 film that gave a young Kate Winslet her feature debut. Jackson played a tramp who ends up in a scene with her. “I realized I gave Kate Winslet her first screen kiss,” he said, joking that he must have set the bar pretty high.

Why Andy Serkis Is Directing The Hunt for Gollum — Not Jackson

Naturally, conversation turned to what’s next for Middle-earth. The upcoming The Hunt for Gollum, which will see Andy Serkis both direct and reprise his iconic role, has been a topic of fan curiosity since it was announced. Jackson addressed the question of why he stepped aside directly.

“The film is about Gollum’s psychological and addiction,” he explained. “I thought, ‘Andy knows this guy better than anybody.’ The most exciting version of this movie is if Andy Serkis makes it.”

And speaking of Serkis, Jackson had strong feelings about the long-running debate over whether motion-capture performances deserve awards recognition. He thinks the current anxiety around AI is making a complicated situation worse.

“A lot of the current environment, everyone’s so worried about AI … I don’t think a Gollum-type character or a generated character has any hope for winning any awards,” he said. “Which is a bit unfair, especially in the Andy Serkis case where it’s not an AI-generated performance, it’s a human-generated performance 100% of the way.”

On AI itself, Jackson was more nuanced than the headline might suggest. “I mean, to me, it’s just a special effect. It’s no different from other special effects.” But he was clear that protecting actors’ rights is non-negotiable. “It’s absolutely critical” to prevent likenesses being stolen and used without permission, he said — though licensed use, in his view, is a different matter entirely. He did add, with a laugh, that AI is “going to destroy the world.”

A Night That Belonged to Jackson — and New Zealand

After Jackson’s speech, the ceremony had one more surprise in store. A clip from his Beatles documentary Get Back flashed on screen, and then French-Congolese singer Theodora and French singer-songwriter Oklou walked out to perform “Get Back” live. Jackson bopped his head, clapped along, and sang every word.

The Honorary Palme has gone to some extraordinary names this decade — Marco Bellocchio, George Lucas, Studio Ghibli, Jodie Foster, Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro, Harrison Ford, Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, Michael Douglas. Barbra Streisand will receive this year’s second Honorary Palme at the closing ceremony on May 23.

Jackson joins that list as the rare honoree who never competed at Cannes, never made the kind of film Cannes typically celebrates — and yet somehow, the festival owes him as much as he owes it.

“The two times that I came before were monumental times,” he said of his 1988 and 2001 visits. This one, he called “profound.”

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• Peter Jackson received an honorary Palme d’Or at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival opening ceremony on May 12
• Elijah Wood, who played Frodo Baggins in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, presented the award with a heartfelt personal tribute
• Jackson revealed how a 2001 Cannes screening of 20 minutes of Fellowship of the Ring footage saved the franchise from a bad press cycle
• Jackson joins past honorary Palme recipients including Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster and Tom Cruise
• The 79th Cannes Film Festival runs through May 23, with 22 films competing for the Palme d’Or

Peter Jackson walked into the Grand Lumière Theatre at the Palais des Festivals on Tuesday night and walked out a Palme d’Or man — even if he’s still not entirely sure he deserves to be one.

“I’ve still got to work out why I am getting a Palme d’Or,” the beloved New Zealand filmmaker, 64, quipped to the crowd. “I am not a Palme d’Or type of guy.” The room, of course, disagreed — and gave him a standing ovation anyway.

The honorary prize was presented by the person perhaps best positioned to give it: Elijah Wood, who at 18 years old stepped into a casting office and came out as Frodo Baggins. The two haven’t just made movie history together — they’ve been close ever since. And on the opening night of the 79th Cannes Film Festival, Wood made that abundantly clear.

“My Life Had Just Been Divided Into Before and After”

Wood, 45, took the stage and told the story of how it all began — with a homemade VHS tape filmed in the woods of Griffith Park. Jackson and his longtime partner and collaborator Fran Walsh had flown to Los Angeles specifically to meet the young actor who’d sent it in.

“I walked into Victoria Burrows’ casting office and there they were, Pete and Fran, together as they’d been for almost every day since they first met sometime in the late ’80s,” Wood told the audience. “And when, a little while later, the call came that I was going to be Frodo Baggins, I sat down on the floor of my bedroom and I understood with the whole of my being that my life had just been divided into before and after. And I know I’m far from the only person who has had their life changed by Peter Jackson.”

He wasn’t done. “Peter grew up in a country that back then barely had a film industry at all,” Wood continued, beaming. “But in true Pete fashion, that was not about to hold him back. So Pete, I truly have no words to thank you for that.”

Jackson accepted the trophy with a hug — and a joke. Noting that it had been 27 years since their first meeting, he looked at Wood and said: “You’ve grown a little bit of facial hair. If someone does a remake of Gone With the Wind, it could be your role.”

Wood was joined at the ceremony by his wife, Danish film producer Mette-Marie Kongsved. Jackson brought along his two children, Billy and Katie.

How Cannes Saved Lord of the Rings

The laughs gave way to something more reflective when Jackson talked about what Cannes actually means to him — and it turns out, it means everything.

His first connection to the festival came in 1987, when he brought his debut feature Bad Taste to the Cannes market. “If the film hadn’t sold well at the marketplace here, I would have gone back to New Zealand to my photo engraver job,” he said, referencing the day job he’d held while making the film on weekends over four years. “Fortunately, it sold really well. It started my career.”

But the more consequential Cannes moment came in 2001, when the press cycle around The Lord of the Rings had turned genuinely ugly. The films had been shot over three years — all three simultaneously — but the studio landscape had grown turbulent. Warner Bros. was caught up in the disastrous AOL-Time Warner merger, and the narrative in the press had curdled into something close to mockery.

“All the press was sort of talking about this great folly,” Jackson recalled. “What happens if the first film fails? What are they going to do about films two and three because they’re already made? It was a huge gamble, but all the media was talking about that the gamble was going to fail.”

New Line Cinema founder Bob Shaye decided to fight back — by bringing 20 minutes of The Fellowship of the Ring to Cannes that May, months before the December release. “We quickly cut together 20 minutes of film, really fast, and we brought that 20 minutes here in 2001 in May, and we did some press in that castle up on the hill and had a party there,” Jackson said. “Bob’s great gamble really changed the perception of the film. By the time it came out, there was an anticipation that there wouldn’t have been if not for Cannes.”

The rest, as they say, is cinema history. The Lord of the Rings trilogy went on to win 17 Oscars — including Best Picture for The Return of the King — and Jackson’s name became synonymous with epic, large-scale storytelling. “There is clearly a before and an after Peter Jackson,” Cannes chief Thierry Frémaux said ahead of the ceremony. “Larger-than-life cinema is his trademark, and his all-encompassing art of entertainment is particularly ambitious. Peter Jackson is not only a great technician; he is above all a tremendous storyteller.”

He couldn’t resist a wink at current events, either. With Warner Bros. once again in the middle of a major sale — this time to Paramount Skydance owner David Ellison — Jackson grinned at the crowd and said simply: “What goes around comes around.” The room laughed.

After Jackson’s speech brought another extended standing ovation, ceremony host Eye Haïdara surprised him with one more gift: a clip from his Beatles documentary flashed on screen, and then French-Congolese singer Theodora and French artist Oklou walked out to perform “Get Back” live. Jackson bopped his head, clapped his hands, and sang along. Jury member Demi Moore, watching from her seat, did the same.

A Star-Studded Night to Open the 79th Festival

Jackson joins an elite group of filmmakers and actors who’ve received the honorary Palme d’Or, including Agnès Varda, Jodie Foster, Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro and Tom Cruise.

The rest of the opening night was equally electric. Jane Fonda and Chinese actress Gong Li took the stage together to officially declare the festival open — a pairing that felt intentional. “Jane comes from the West,” Gong said. “And I come from the East. Tonight we stand together here. This is the magic of the Cannes Film Festival.”

Fonda, never one to stay quiet when the moment calls for something more, added: “I believe in the power of voices — voices on the screen, voices off the screen, and definitely voices in the street, especially now. Cinema has always been an act of resistance because we tell the stories, and stories are what make a civilization.” She closed with a rallying cry: “Let’s celebrate audacity, freedom and the fierce act of creation.”

Jury president Park Chan-wook addressed the 22 films in competition, noting that while the selection may be small, the number of people who worked on them runs into the thousands. The jury he’s leading includes Demi Moore, Chloé Zhao, Stellan Skarsgård, Ruth Negga, Laura Wandel, Diego Céspedes, Isaach De Bankolé and Paul Laverty.

The opening-night film was Pierre Salvadori’s La Vénus Électrique — known in English as The Electric Kiss — a period romantic comedy set in 1920s Paris, starring Pio Marmaï, Anaïs Demoustier, Vimala Pons and Gilles Lellouche. The film follows a grieving painter who accidentally begins a fake séance arrangement with a carnival worker, with predictably chaotic results.

Also on the red carpet: Joan Collins, Diego Luna, Heidi Klum, James Franco, Alia Bhatt, Tyrese Gibson, Bong Joon Ho and Maika Monroe, among others.

Competition screenings kick off Wednesday, with the Palme d’Or winner to be announced at the closing ceremony on May 23. The lineup includes buzzy titles featuring Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, Rami Malek, Sandra Hüller, Léa Seydoux, Catherine Deneuve, Michael Fassbender, Sebastian Stan and Pedro Almodóvar’s latest — which means the next 11 days on the Croisette are going to be very, very busy.

But Tuesday night belonged to Peter Jackson. And to the kid from New Zealand who made a movie on weekends, shipped it to a French film festival, and never looked back.

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