Cannes Kicks Off With Peter Jackson Tribute, Jane Fonda and James Franco Returning From Cancellation

May 12, 2026 9:40am PT Cannes Kicks Off With Peter Jackson Tribute, Jane Fonda and James Franco Returning From Cancellation

By Elsa Keslassy, Ramin Setoodeh

The 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, which launched on Tuesday night, is missing big studios movies and Hollywood stars. But at least it had a visitor from Middle Earth. Peter Jackson, the director of the “Lord of the Rings,” touched down in the South of France to accept an honorary Palme d’Or ahead of the opening night movie, “The Electric Kiss,” a French romantic comedy set in the 1920s.

On a sunny and windy afternoon, Jackson walked the carpet alongside a smattering of celebrities that made their way to Cannes (from Diego Luna to “Emily in Paris” star Lucas Bravo to Tyrese Gibson) and a jury that includes Demi Moore, Chloé Zhao, Ruth Negga, Stellan Skarsgård, and Park Chan-wook, who serves as its president. James Franco, whose career was derailed by allegations of sexually inappropriate behavior, was in attendance alongside Jordan Firstman, the “I Love LA” star, whose feature, “Club Kid,” is playing at the festival. The flashing cameras from the wall of photographers remained dark for long stretches of the opening ceremony.

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