‘Star Wars: Episode 7’ News: Dying Fan Permitted to See New Film Early
A longtime fan of the "Star Wars" franchise had recently been diagnosed with a terminal cancer that could potentially take his life before the release of the new film, "Star Wars: Episode VII -- The Force Awakens." So Daniel Fleetwood and his wife took to social media to reach out to Disney in hopes of seeing the film before he passed on.
And that wish was granted.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Daniel Fleetwood, 32, was granted this request by the film's producers. The social media campaign was quickly picked up on by the film's stars, which included John Boyega and Mark Hamill.
Boyega retweeted the pleas for this request to director J.J. Abrams as well as the film's distributors, Disney and Lucasfilm.
The campaign itself flowed through Twitter with the hashtag #ForceForDaniel. It was started by his wife Ashley Fleetwood, and she took to the campaign with her own force, rallying hard to get people to pick up on the request. The effort was not in vain as many retweeted with the hashtag and it quickly went viral.
#forcefordaniel help my man get his last wish, to see a screening of Star Wars before cancer takes him. @bad_robot pic.twitter.com/XCuYD0KlpY
— Ashley Fleetwood (@pandorashley) October 29, 2015
Ashley announced via Facebook, as reported by her friend Chris Alexakos on Twitter, her husband got to watch the unedited version of the film, thanks to a call from director J.J. Abrams. She described a glorious moment for her husband, one which will be a lasting memory for him and what life he has left.
YES! Thank you @Disney, @HamillHimself, @starwars and everyone who helped this man get a smile on his face! pic.twitter.com/mWrF1xqqbY — Chris Alexakos (@Calexak0s) November 5, 2015
She was also very thankful to the scores of people who took up the cause and got the attention of Abrams, Boyega, Hamill and the "Star Wars" producers.
It was a heartfelt and touching message that she described, with many other thanks given out to the people who were more closely involved with making it happen.
Hamill also acknowledged the event with his own happiness on his Twitter page, retweeting Alexakos post.
I just read this and am elated for Daniel & his family! Thanks to the powers-that-be for making his dream come true. https://t.co/ImiAdyBxf8
— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) November 5, 2015
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