‘Lord of the Rings’ director Peter Jackson to receive honorary Palme d’Or at Cannes 2026

The Cannes Film Festival will honour New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson with an honorary Palme d’Or at its 2026 edition, recognising a career that reshaped modern blockbuster filmmaking.
Festival organisers announced the award on Thursday, describing Jackson’s work as a body of cinema that combines “Hollywood blockbusters and films d’auteur with extraordinary artistic vision and technological audacity.”

The honour will be presented during the opening ceremony of the 79th Cannes Film Festival, which runs from May 12 to May 23, 2026.

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In a statement, Jackson called the recognition “one of the greatest privileges” of his career. The director recalled his early connection to Cannes, noting that he first attended the festival marketplace in 1988 while seeking international buyers for his debut feature “Bad Taste.” Years later, he returned to the Croisette in 2001 to preview footage from “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.”

Jackson is widely regarded as one of the defining filmmakers of contemporary fantasy cinema. His “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy (2001–2003) became a global phenomenon, earning nearly $3 billion at the box office and winning 17 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for “The Return of the King”.

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Born in New Zealand, Jackson began his filmmaking career in the 1980s with the low-budget splatter comedy “Bad Taste” (1987). He gained wider critical recognition with “Heavenly Creatures” (1994) and the mockumentary “Forgotten Silver” (1995) before directing his first major Hollywood production, “The Frighteners” (1996).

Following the success of “The Lord of the Rings”, Jackson went on to direct “King Kong” (2005) and later returned to JRR Tolkien’s Middle-earth with “The Hobbit” trilogy (2012–2014). More recently, he has turned to ambitious documentary projects such as “They Shall Not Grow Old” (2018) and the Beatles documentary series “The Beatles: Get Back” (2021).

Cannes regularly presents honorary Palme d’Or awards to filmmakers and actors whose careers have made lasting contributions to cinema. In 2025, the festival honoured Robert De Niro and Denzel Washington with the distinction.