Harrison Ford walked up to the stage at the Grand Theatre Lumière in Cannes to accept his honorary Palme d’Or award on Thursday at the Cannes Film Festival, amidst an ovation.
Harrison Ford tried to fight back tears many 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 film history.
“I’m very touched,” the Hollywood icon said as he began his speech after he was handed his statuette. “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.”
The actor again appeared to get emotional when he thanked his “lovely” wife, actress Calista Flockhart. She “has supported my passion and my dreams, and I’m grateful,” he said.
Continuing with the audience he said; “you’ve given my life purpose and meaning and I’m grateful for that…“I’m deeply moved by this honor, and humbled – but I’ve got a movie you’ve got to see. It’s right behind me,” he said, pointing to the movie screen draped in red velvet curtains.
“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” will be Harrison Ford’s fifth and final “Indiana Jones” movie, a franchise in which he’s starred as the main character since its1981 “Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Ford has said that “Dial of Destiny” is the end of his tenure playing Indiana Jones. “This is the final film in the series, and this is the last time I’ll play the character,” Ford told Total Film magazine before Cannes. “I anticipate that it will be the last time that he appears in a film.” While he’s aware that Disney is developing an Indiana Jones series for Disney+, Ford said he “will not be involved in that, if it does come to fruition.”
The movie once again finds the 80-year-old playing the eponymous archeologist. Set in 1969 against the space race, Indy must once again fight off heinous Nazis. Mads Mikkelsen and Boyd Holbrook co-star in the film.
“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” will be released on Cinemas in the US on June 30.