Director Peter Jackson will receive an honorary Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Cannes organizers announced on Thursday.
A Cannes statement said the honor was coming “in recognition of a body of work that blends Hollywood blockbusters and films d’auteur with extraordinary artistic vision and technological audacity.”
The award comes on the 25th anniversary of Jackson’s landmark “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” which screened a 26-minute reel of preview footage for the first time in Cannes in 2001. It will be presented to Jackson at the Cannes opening ceremony on May 12.
In a statement, Cannes Festival Director Thierry Frémaux commented that 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. But 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?”
In recent years, Cannes has given out a number of Honorary Palme d’Or awards, often as surprises for talent attending on behalf of their new films. Robert De Niro and Denzel Washington received the honors last year, with other recent recipients including Alain Delon, Marco Bellocchio, Jodie Foster, Forest Whitaker, Tom Cruise, Michael Douglas, Harrison Ford, Meryl Streep, George Lucas and Studio Ghibli.
Cannes did not say if any Jackson films would screen at this year’s festival, which will announce its lineup on April 9. Jackson’s last work was the TV documentary series “The Beatles: Get Back” in 2021. He is currently producing “The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum,” which will be directed by Andy Serkis as part of a new series of “Lord of the Rings” spinoff films.
“To be honored with an Honorary Palme d’Or at Cannes is one of the greatest privileges of my career,” Jackson said in a statement. “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 recognized among the filmmakers and the artists whose work continues to inspire me.”
The 2026 Cannes Film Festival will begin on May 12 and run through May 22. South Korean director Park Chan-wook has been named president of the jury.
