American film legend Michael Douglas will receive an honorary Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival later this month, organisers announced on Wednesday.
The festival will pay homage to the 78-year-old's "brilliant career and engagement with cinema" during the opening ceremony on 16 May.
"From my first time here in 1979 ... the Festival has always reminded me that magic of cinema is not just in what we see onscreen but in its ability to impact people all around the world. After more than 50 years in the business, it’s an honor to return to the Croisette to open the Festival and embrace our shared global language of film," the actor said in a statement.
Douglas rose to fame in the 1980s and 1990s and won an Academy Award for his iconic role as banker Gordon Gekko in Oliver Stone's 1987 film "Wall Street". The sequel,"Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" was screened Out of Competition at the 63rd Festival de Cannes.
Michael Douglas, Honorary Palme d'or of the 76th Festival de Cannes✨
— Festival de Cannes (@Festival_Cannes) May 3, 2023
The Festival de Cannes will pay a tribute to the American actor during the Opening Ceremony on Tuesday, May 16 saluting his brilliant career and his engagement for cinema #Cannes2023
► https://t.co/nWBTRGqEwL pic.twitter.com/Zl49kTqhY8
Connection to Cannes
His first foray into filmmaking was as a producer of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo Nest" directed by Milos Forman, which received nine Oscar nominations and was awarded Best Picture in 1975.
He has presented four films in competition at Cannes: "The Chinese Syndrome" by James Bridges in 1979, "Basic Instinct" by Paul Verhoeven in 1992, "Falling Down" by Joel Schumacher in 1993 and "Behind the Candelabra" by Steven Soderbergh in 2013.
His father, legendary Hollywood actor Kirk Douglas, presided over the festival's jury in 1980.
In 2016, Michael Douglas was given a standing ovation when he made a speech in French after receiving his second honorary award at the Césars – France's equivalent to the Oscars.
He continues to be a major screen presence starring in Marvel's recent "Antman" films and his award-winning comedy turn in TV show "The Kominsky Method".
Off-screen activism
In addition to cinema, Michael Douglas is a United Nations Messenger of Peace, committed to nuclear disarmament across the world and he has also been a longstanding advocate of gun control in the United States.
A previously unreleased documentary, "Michael Douglas, the Prodigal Son", by Amine Mesta, soon to be broadcast on France's Arte channel, will be screened prior to the opening of the Festival.
Past winners of the honorary Palme d'Or include Forest Whitaker and Tom Cruise in 2022, Jodie Foster and Marco Bellocchio in 2021 and Agnes Varda in 2015.
The Cannes Film Festival, running May 16-27, this year includes premieres for the new Indiana Jones and Martin Scorsese movies, and opens with Johnny Depp's comeback film, "Jeanne du Barry".
Several films have been added to the official competition with a record 7 women directors up for the Palme d'Or.
The jury, presided over by 2022 Palme d'Or winner Ruben Ostlund has yet to be announced.
