CANNES: Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez led a cast reunion of The Fast and the Furious stars on Wednesday in Cannes ahead of a special screening to mark the 25th anniversary of the original movie.

Diesel and Rodriguez posed with fellow actor Jordana Brewster and the daughter of late co-star Paul Walker, who died in a car crash in 2013, at the French film festival.

The Fast and the Furious will be screened in a midnight slot later in the day, bringing some Hollywood razzle-dazzle to Cannes where US studios are notably absent.

Hollywood majors such as Universal, Disney or Sony, as well as streaming giants Netflix and Amazon, have decided against launching any of their blockbusters on the French Riviera, unlike in previous years.

Pan’s Labyrinth returns to Cannes 20 years after record 22-minute ovation

Reasons for their absence include cost-cutting, a growing preference for tightly controlled social media-led launches, and the risk that a mauling from the Cannes critics can doom a movie.

The first edition of the The Fast and the Furious, a street-racing thriller, helped launch a franchise that has grossed more than seven billion dollars worldwide, according to industry figures.

Diesel announced on Monday that the concept — now in its 11th film — is being adapted into a television series by owner Universal.

Return of Pan’s Labyrinth

Mexican director Guillermo del Toro received the longest-ever standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival two decades ago for his historical fantasy Pan’s Labyrinth, which returns this year to the Cannes Classics section.

Speaking, del Toro said the 22-minute ovation given to his Spanish-language film 20 years ago produced a “rush of human emotion.”

“Alfonso Cuaron was there with me because we produced the movie together and he said, ‘let it in, man’,” recalled del Toro on Tuesday.

“I’m not very good with praise and he said, ‘let it in, let love go in’ and I experienced it like that.” Pan’s Labyrinth did not win the top-prize Palme D’Or that year, but del Toro went on to win the best picture Oscar for his fish monster love story The Shape of Water in 2018.

The film, which has been digitally remastered, is set in Spain under the Franco dictatorship and follows a young girl who is enticed by a magical faun to complete three dangerous tasks while also dealing with her ailing pregnant mother and cruel military stepfather.

The concept for Pan’s Labyrinth came when del Toro was at a low point in his creativity following the September 11 attacks on the Twin Towers in New York.

“I felt really defenceless,” he said, and started to question what the role of a storyteller is in this situation. “I thought it would be really interesting to have a man of rigidity, a captain, having to face magic — something that seems imaginary, but his own notions of what is right and what is wrong, the captain’s notions, are also imaginary,” he added.

The cult classic, which will also be shown in 3D, is set to be re-released in theatres later this year.

Published in Dawn, May 14th, 2026