Travolta, Adam Driver and Barbra Streisand headline Cannes opening-night red carpet

The Cannes Film Festival is two things at once — a movie event and a status contest for the film business. That’s why opening night matters more than a normal premiere. On Tuesday, May 12, the 79th edition began on the French Riviera, with John Travolta, Adam Driver and Barbra Streisand set to headline the first big red carpet, while the festival itself runs through May 23. ### Why does opening night matter so much? Because Cannes compresses a lot of power into one image. A red carpet here is not just celebrity theater — it signals which films, stars and distributors are likely to dominate conversation for the next 11 days. Buyers, critics, publicists and awards strategists all watch the same arrivals and start placing bets immediately. (interaksyon.philstar.com) ### Who are the big names tonight? The headline names in the early coverage were Travolta, Driver and Streisand. Streisand is not just attending for glamour value — she is one of the festival’s honorary Palme d’Or recipients this year, alongside Peter Jackson, which gives the opening stretch a built-in legacy angle instead of just a parade of current releases. (interaksyon.philstar.com) ### What actually opened the festival? The official festival opens with Pierre Salvadori’s *La Vénus Électrique* — also referred to in English coverage as *The Electric Kiss*. That matters because Cannes likes to frame its opening night as both a celebration and a statement of taste. The opener is the festival telling the world what kind of mood it wants to set before the competition titles take over. (interaksyon.philstar.com) ### Why is Pan’s Labyrinth part of the story? Because Cannes started the day with a nostalgia flex that also doubles as prestige branding. The Cannes Classics program held a pre-opening screening of a new 4K restoration of *Pan’s Labyrinth* on May 12 at the Debussy Theater, with Guillermo del Toro present. The restoration was supervised from the original 35mm negative, which is exactly the kind of cinephile detail Cannes loves to foreground. (msn.com) ### Why does that restoration carry weight? Partly because *Pan’s Labyrinth* has real Cannes history. The film premiered there in 2006, and the new screening arrives 20 years later with the aura of a modern classic returning to the place that helped canonize it. Cannes is very good at using that kind of callback — it reminds everyone that the festival is not only chasing the next breakout, but also curating its own mythology. (festival-cannes.com) ### Is this mostly about glamour, or business? Both — and that’s the trick. Cannes looks like fashion and celebrity from the outside, but underneath it is a market signal. Strong reactions on the Croisette can change acquisition interest, awards expectations and even release strategies. A festival slot here can turn an art-house film into a global contender faster than almost anywhere else. (variety.com) ### What should people watch next? Watch where attention clusters after the first carpet. The key questions are which premieres generate real heat, which stars stick around long enough to boost their films, and whether the legacy moments — like Streisand’s honor and del Toro’s restoration screening — end up sharing space with new contenders or overshadowing them. That mix will define the tone of Cannes 2026. (interaksyon.philstar.com) ### Bottom line Opening night at Cannes is never just an opening night. This year started with old-school star power, a prestige restoration and the usual quiet scramble to figure out where the festival’s attention — and the movie business’s money — will land next. (interaksyon.philstar.com)