John Travolta Tears Up as He’s Surprised with Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival: 'This Is Beyond the Oscar'

Vaclav Urich May 15, 2026

John Travolta received an honorary Palme d’Or at Cannes while premiering his directorial debut, Propeller One-Way Night Coach

John Travolta receives an honourary lifetime achievement Palm d'Or award prior to the screening of the film

NEED TO KNOW

The movie is based on a book he wrote for his late son, Jett
Travolta walked the red carpet with his daughter Ella Bleu Travolta, who stars in the movie

John Travoltacame intoCannes Film Festivalexpecting to premiere his directorial debut,Propeller One-Way Night Coach, but is walking away with something he hadn't dreamed of: an honorary Palme d’Or.

Festival head Thierry Frémaux surprised Travolta, 72, with the prestigious award onstage at the Debussy Theater on Friday, May 15, calling him "one of the greatest actors" deserving of an award.

"I can't believe this. This is the last thing I expected," Travolta said, getting visibly teary-eyed. "You said this would be a special night, but I didn’t think you meant this. This is a humbling moment. This is beyond the Oscar.”

Propeller One-Way Night Coachis based on Travolta's 1997 book of the same name, about an 8-year-old boy named Jeff who loves aviation and takes a cross-country flight with his mom to Hollywood. Travolta wrote the book for his late son,Jett.

"When I met with [Frémaux] in November, I had no expectation that my film would be accepted, and when Thierry said it was ... making history because it would be the first film being accepted that early, I cried like a baby," Travolta said while accepting the award.

Earlier that evening, Travolta walked the red carpet alongside the film's cast, which includes his daughter,Ella Bleu Travoltaas well as Clark Shotwell, Kelly Eviston-Quinnett and Olga Hoffmann.

Ella Bleu Travolta and John Travolta attend the

"This is the blueprint of my life and everyone that was in the movie is sitting in the audience right there, my family, and this is why this film exists and why I exist as an artist because of that group of people right there," Travolta said of the movie.

Hours earlier, Travolta and Ella arrived in style as the actor piloted his own flight to France, joking that champagne for all aboard was "on me." The actor posted a snippet of him announcing the flight to the passengers onInstagramafter sharing that he was "really excited" to debut his movie in Cannes.

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Propeller One-Way Night Coachreleases on AppleTV on May 29.

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