A dying man’s wish to see the new Star Wars movie before passing away now has been granted by Walt Disney Studios, after the franchise stars Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamil, Daisy Ridley and John Boyega lent their star power to Daniel Fleetwood’s campaign.
Doctors informed the 32-year-old Texan that his ongoing battle with spindle cell sarcoma, a rare form of connective tissue cancer, was coming to an end when he received a terminal diagnosis last July. At the time, his medical professionals told him he could expect to live another two months.
A lifelong Star Wars fan, Fleetwood has been holding on in an effort to see the hotly anticipated seventh movie in the franchise, but told a Houston news crew that his health has been deteriorating.
"Judging by how progressive the disease has gotten in the past two months I really don't think that I'll be able to make it," Fleetwood said.
The viral campaign has been featured prominently on Twitter, with the hashtag #ForceForDaniel trending all over the world.
And yesterday, the forces that be granted his wish, with director JJ Abrams calling up Fleetwood to tell him he was going to get to see an unedited cut of the movie. Over on Facebook, Fleetwood’s wife Ashley offered her thanks for everyone who got behind the campaign:
To all our wonderful supporters, friends, family and awesome strangers: Daniels final dream was just granted!!! Today...
Posted by Ashley Fleetwood on Thursday, 5 November 2015
JJ Abrams, the director helming this relaunch of the popular sci-fi saga, has past form in granting the wishes of movie fans with terminal diagnoses the opportunity to see a screening of a movie before it is released.
In 2013, Abrams helped New York-based film buff Daniel Craft, also a cancer patient, see a screening of Star Trek into Darkness before its release date. Craft passed away a few days after seeing the film.
