Harrison Ford in Cannes at the Indiana Jones Premiere
Indiana Jones returns to the Festival de Cannes for the world premiere of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, directed by James Mangold, starring Harrison Ford as the legendary hero. 15 years after the presentation in 2008 of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull directed by Steven Spielberg, the final installment of the LucasFilm saga will be screened on Thursday, May 18 in Cannes and will be released in theaters on June 28 in France and June 30 in the United States.
On Thursday night at the Cannes Film Festival, Harrison Ford fought back tears several times at the premiere of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” the fifth (and perhaps final) chapter of one of the most celebrated franchises in movie history. No expense was spared as Disney jetted its top executives, including CEO Bob Iger and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, to the South of France for the summer action film directed by James Mangold and starring Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
But regardless of how the crowd felt about the film, the biggest cheers of the night were reserved for Ford. The actor arrived on the carpet with wife Calista Flockhart, and an announcer introduced the duo as “Indiana Jones and Calista Flockhart.” Ford received a true movie’s star welcome, as thousands of fans screamed his name and the audience in the Palais jumped up to welcome him as he set foot inside the theatre.
As the night began, Ford was summoned to the stage by Cannes festival director Thierry Frémaux to receive a surprise Palme d’Or after a reel of his greatest roles — from “Star Wars” to “The Fugitive” — played onscreen.
“I’m very moved by this,” Ford said. “They say when you’re about to die, you see your life flash before your eyes, and I just saw my life flash before my eyes. A great part of my life, but not all of my life. My life has been enabled by my lovely wife, who has supported my passion and my dreams, and I’m grateful.”
The film received a lukewarm ovation lasting 5 minutes. While it may sound impressive, by Cannes standards, it’s rather a polite welcome than a recognition of a masterpiece. And who counts the length of ovations anyway?
Editor in Chief of Ikon London Magazine, journalist, film producer and founder of The DAFTA Film Awards (The DAFTAs).
