India, May 11 -- It wasn't long ago that Tom Cruise wowed the attendees at the Cannes Film Festival as Top Gun: Maverick premiered at the prestigious film festival. In the last decade, the latest Star Wars and Indiana Jones films have premiered at the French Riviera as well. But 2026 paints a different picture. Not a single Hollywood blockbuster is programmed there, raising questions about why US studios are ghosting the event.

While Cannes is always a celebration of cinema of the artistic kind, the big films - and their stars - help draw attention to the same red carpets walked by auteur directors and the casts of obscure arthouse productions. This year, Cannes will have to make do without that support from Hollywood's elite.

Cannes di...