Leonardo DiCaprio Will Present Robert De Niro With Honorary Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival Opening

The longtime collaborators will reunite as Cannes honors De Niro’s lifetime of cinematic achievement

Leonardo DiCaprio is set to present Robert De Niro with the prestigious honorary Palme d’Or during the opening ceremony of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, Variety has confirmed. The emotional tribute marks a full-circle moment for the legendary actors, who first shared the screen in 1993’s This Boy’s Life and most recently reunited in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, which premiered at Cannes last year.

The tribute underscores De Niro’s enduring influence and legacy as one of the defining figures of modern cinema. The Oscar-winning actor, who presided over the Cannes jury in 2011 and starred in Palme-winning Taxi Driver nearly five decades ago, will also participate in a special masterclass at the Debussy Theatre on Wednesday.

“When there’s so much in the world pulling us apart,” De Niro said when the award was first announced, “Cannes brings us together—storytellers, filmmakers, fans, and friends. It’s like coming home.”

Festival organizers echoed that sentiment, stating: “With his interiorized style, which surfaces in a gentle smile or a harsh gaze, Robert De Niro has become a cinematic legend.”

De Niro’s Cannes legacy is rich: Taxi Driver, Mean Streets, 1900, The Mission, and Once Upon a Time in America have all played at the festival, cementing his status as one of its most revered figures. He returns now not as a competitor, but as a symbol of the festival’s history and of the enduring bond between American cinema and global cinephilia.

Following the honorary ceremony, the festival will kick off with the premiere of Leave One Day, a musical comedy from Amélie Bonnin.

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Meanwhile, DiCaprio, who remains a key figure in international cinema, will next appear in Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, slated for a September 16 release. A fall festival premiere is likely.

As the Cannes Film Festival opens, all eyes will be on this passing of the torch between two generations of screen giants—each a storyteller of rare emotional precision and global resonance.