Peter Jackson to receive honorary Palme d'Or at Cannes 2026

In a major honour for one of cinemas most influential fantasy storytellers acclaimed filmmaker Peter Jackson will receive the prestigious Honorary Palme dOr at the 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival scheduled to run from May 12 to 23The Oscarwinning New Zealand director best known for bringing The Lord of the Rings to the big screen will join an illustrious list of past honourees including Agnes Varda Marco Bellocchio Jodie Foster Meryl Streep and last years recipient Robert De Niro as per DeadlineReacting to the recognition Jackson described the honour as one of the most meaningful moments of his careerTo be honoured with an Honorary Palme dOr at Cannes is one of the greatest privileges of my career Jackson said adding Cannes has been a meaningful part of my filmmaking journey as quoted by DeadlineHe recalled two early milestones linked to the festival attending the market in 1988 with his debut feature Bad Taste and presenting a preview of The Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Ring at Cannes in 2001This festival has always celebrated bold visionary cinema and Im incredibly grateful to the Festival de Cannes for being recognised among the filmmakers and artists whose work continues to inspire me he added as quoted by DeadlineAccording to the festival the preview screening of The Fellowship of the Ring shown seven months before its global release marked a turning point Initial skepticism among attendees reportedly turned into widespread enthusiasm setting the stage for the monumental success of Jacksons Middleearth sagaThe trilogy which continued with The Lord of the Rings The Two Towers and The Lord of the Rings The Return of the King went on to win 17 Academy Awards in total including 11 for Return of the KingThe films collectively grossed around USD 3 billion worldwide as per DeadlineThe honorary Palme dOr also coincides with the 25th anniversary of the franchises launch beginning with The Fellowship of the Ring in 2001Welcoming the filmmaker Cannes President Iris Knobloch praised Jacksons creative influenceFor its 79th year the festival welcomes and thanks a filmmaker of boundless creativity who has brought prestige to the heroic fantasy genre she saidFestival director Thierry Fremaux suggested that Jacksons work reshaped cinematic spectacleThere was a before and an after Peter Jackson in the history of cinema Fremaux said adding that the directors largescale storytelling has permanently transformed Hollywood filmmakingBefore the global success of The Lord of the Rings Jackson earned critical acclaim with films such as Braindead and Heavenly Creatures He later directed King Kong and returned to Middleearth with The Hobbit between 2012 and 2014More recently he explored documentary filmmaking with They Shall Not Grow Old and the music documentary series The Beatles Get BackThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever