Michael B. Jordan to Receive the Icon Award from Palm Springs International Film Awards for ‘Sinners’
The Palm Springs International Film Awards has announced that Michael B. Jordan is the recipient of the Icon Award for his performance in Sinners.
The Film Awards will take place on January 3, 2026, at the Palm Springs Convention Center, with the festival running January 2-12, 2026.
“Michael B. Jordan once again proves why he’s been one of the most compelling performers for the past two decades. In Sinners, his reunion with Ryan Coogler yields a bold and intricate performance as twin brothers Smoke and Stack. Michael’s ability to inhabit two distinct souls with such power and nuance is nothing short of extraordinary. For this remarkable achievement, and for his impressive body of work, we are proud to honor him with the Palm Springs International Film Awards Icon Award,” said Festival Chairman Nachhattar Singh Chandi.
Jordan joins this year’s previously announced honorees Adam Sandler (Chairman’s Award) and Sentimental Value cast members Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, and Elle Fanning (International Star Award). Past winners of the Icon Award include Glenn Close, Willem Dafoe, Michael Douglas, Robert Duvall, Lady Gaga, Paul Giamatti, Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep. In their respective years, Close (The Wife), Dafoe (The Florida Project), Duvall (The Judge), Giamatti (The Holdovers) and Streep (August Osage County) were each nominated for an Academy Award.
In Warner Bros. Pictures feature Sinners, twin brothers, Smoke and Stack, who survived combat in WWI and gangland Chicago, return to their hometown of Clarksdale, Mississippi with a truck full of liquor to open a juke joint. As music and dance meld in celebration of artistry, culture and history, an evil descends, threatening to devour the heart and soul of the community. Written and directed by filmmaker Ryan Coogler—and designed with large format in mind, lensing on both proprietary IMAX 15/65mm and on Ultra Panavision 70 cameras—Sinners stars Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Omar Miller, and Delroy Lindo. Sinners marks Jordan and Coogler’s fifth collaboration together, having previously teamed up on Fruitvale Station, Creed, Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Jordan first garnered industry-wide attention for his breakout role in Fruitvale Station, which won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at Sundance Film Festival in 2013 among other accolades that year. In 2019, Jordan was awarded the NAACP Image Award for Best Supporting Actor and a 2019 SAG Award as part of Black Panther’s Best Ensemble, following critical acclaim for his multi-dimensional portrayal of the tormented Erik Killmonger. His other film credits include Without Remorse, Fahrenheit 451, Just Mercy, Creed and Creed II. In 2023, he made his feature film directorial debut in Creed III. Next up, he is set to direct and star in MGM’s reimagining of The Thomas Crown Affair. He will also star and produce an adaptation of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six and I am Legend 2, alongside Will Smith.
The event will be presented by Kering and sponsored by Entertainment Tonight.
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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