Travolta is 72, but at Cannes he sure seemed 42.
He arrived in a black three-piece suit, a cream-colored wool beret, and wire-rimmed glasses, his first time wearing spectacles on a red carpet. His frame looked slimmer than usual and his beard noticeably darker. Online speculation ranged from careful styling to cosmetic procedures to weight-loss methods.
Friday was a double-premiere night for Travolta at the 79th Cannes Film Festival. He arrived first for Karma, the French psychological thriller starring Marion Cotillard, before heading to the world premiere of his own directorial debut, Propeller One-Way Night Coach.
He walked the carpet arm-in-arm with his 26-year-old daughter, Ella Bleu Travolta, who plays flight attendant Doris in Propeller. Ella wore a sleeveless black velvet dress with Chopard diamond earrings, her shoulder-length hair flipped out in a retro style. Father and daughter posed in coordinated black-tie throughout the evening.
Karma is Guillaume Canet’s first thriller in 20 years. Marion Cotillard stars as a woman who flees to a religious cult to escape a child-disappearance investigation. The cult is the same one she escaped as a child. Canet wrote the lead role for Cotillard after their 18-year relationship ended in June 2025. The audience gave it a six-minute standing ovation at Friday’s premiere.
Travolta’s own film, Propeller One-Way Night Coach, is a 61-minute family aviation adventure adapted from his 1997 children’s book of the same name. It was the first film accepted for the 2026 festival and screened in the non-competitive Cannes Premiere section. Apple TV+ releases it globally on May 29.
Before the Propeller screening at the Debussy Theater, festival director Thierry Frémaux surprised Travolta with an honorary Palme d’Or, the festival’s highest lifetime achievement. A career montage played. Travolta got teary on stage and told the room: “This is beyond the Oscar!” He added: “You said this would be a special night, but I didn’t know it would mean this.” The audience gave him a standing ovation.
Travolta, a licensed pilot, flew his own plane from Florida to Nice with Ella on board, an eight-hour-45-minute flight. He posted a clip to Instagram from the cockpit before takeoff: “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. Our flying time tonight to Nice, France is eight hours and 45 minutes. Sit back, enjoy the flight, and the champagne is on me.”
Propeller opens on Apple TV+ on May 29. So far, the conversation has been mostly about the man, not the movie.
