It was a very emotional Harrison Ford, who received a special tribute at the premiere of the newest sequel of the Indiana Jones films. Ford plays the legendary hero in the James Mangold directed film and climbed the steps of the red carpet at the Palais des Festival alongside co-stars Mads Mikkelsen, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas, Ethann Isidore and Boyd Holbrook.

His wife Calista Flockhart was also by his side. They have been a couple since 2010.

“They say that when you are about to die you see your life flash before your eyes,” said Ford from the stage of the Palais des Festivals after a tribute from his movies was presented to the audience. “And I just saw my life flash before my eyes; a great part of my life, but not all my life. My life has been enabled by my beloved wife, Calista, and I am grateful.”

Ford has played some of the most iconic roles in modern American movie history including Han Solo in George Lucas’ Star Wars films, Ricke Deckard in Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner and Denis Villeneuve’s most recent Blade Runner 2049. He first played the action hero Indiana Jones in Steven Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Arc in 1981 and in 2008, he presented the Spielberg directed Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull to the audience in Cannes.

“I love you too,” said Ford to the audience in the Palias des Festivals. “You have given my life purpose and meaning and to have the opportunity to work with artists like Jim and Phoebe – and even Mads and I am deeply moved by this honor.”

In 2023, James Mangold has taken over the director’s chair from Steven Spielberg.

“In 1995, I was honored to come to Cannes with my first film as part of Director’s Fortnite,” said the director in a press release. “Twenty-eight years later, I am proud to return with a slightly larger spectacle. My legendary collaborators and I are very excited to share a brand new and final Indiana Jones adventure with you.”

Mangold saw Raiders of the Lost Arc when he was 17 years old in an upstate mall on opening day. At the official Cannes film festival press conference, he explained that this was one of the reasons he decided to become a director.

“And so, to find myself, three years ago, facing Steven, Kathy, Frank, and Harrison, and being invited to join them, is beyond any dream I ever had,” he said about Spielberg, Kennedy, Marshall and Ford and continued to express his humility for the job.

“There was hesitation because, obviously, it’s an awesome responsibility. There are so many expectations upon a film like this that you’ll only achieve some of them because there’s just so many. Everyone has their own version, their own dear version of Indiana Jones, and there’s no way you’re ever going to please everyone. But the other hesitation was that it was such a legendary crew of the greatest of film producing, acting, directing, coming to me. That joining in was trying to understand, in the most honest way, that I could make a movie that also felt like mine”, he said.