The Cannes Film Festival revved up its engines Wednesday evening with a screening of the 2001 blockbuster that launched the Fast and Furious franchise – a tribute to Hollywood despite a notable absence of large studios this year. Meanwhile, the main competition got started with films from Japan and France.
Issued on: 14/05/2026 - 16:12Modified: 14/05/2026 - 16:12
4 min Reading time
The Fast and the Furious co-stars Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster soaked up applause at a special cast reunion at Cannes on the 25th anniversary of the original street-racing movie. They were guests of honour at a raucous midnight screening of the first film in the Fast franchise, which Cannes director Thierry Frémaux said "had become a classic" and "left an enormous mark on the history of cinema". The 11-movie series, which has grossed more than $7 billion dollars at the box office, is set to end with Fast Forever in 2028. The actors paid an emotional tribute to late co-star Paul Walker, who died in a car crash in 2013. He was represented by his daughter, the actress and model Meadow Rain Walker, who shared a long hug with Diesel on the red carpet. Cinema fans got another dose of high-octane action on opening night with the free beachside screening of the first of the Top Gun series, starring Tom Cruise. Cruise created red-carpet pandemonium when he presented the last installment of the franchise at the Cannes Festival in 2022. Hollywood cold feet But Frémaux, who made bringing big American films to Cannes an early priority of his two-decade tenure, has been left without a major Hollywood blockbuster premiere for the 2026 edition. Cannes typically relies on US studios providing A-list excitement at the event, which otherwise focuses on independent, auteur cinema in its main competition. But Hollywood majors such as Disney, Sony and Warner, as well as streaming giants Netflix and Amazon, have decided against launching films at Cannes this year. Reasons for the studios' absence include cost-cutting, a growing preference for tightly controlled social media-led launches, and the risk that poor reviews from critics could doom a movie. Gimme Moore! Demi, Skarsgard and Zhao to join eclectic Cannes jury 'Old fat rebel' returns Another cinema heavyweight from the other side of the globe added some mainstream buzz. At 64, New Zealand director Peter Jackson says he still sees himself as the rebel who was kicked out of the Palais des Festivals for wearing shorts when he premiered his debut film, Bad Taste in 1987 – but now an "old, fat rebel".
