One last wish: Terminally-ill ‘Star Trek’ fan granted private screening of new film
It might not be released in cinemas until May but terminally-ill 'Star Trek' fan Daniel Craft was shown an early cut of 'Into Darkness' after a Christmas Day Reddit post was brought to the attention of director JJ Abrams.
Craft, a director of the New York Asian film festival, died late on Friday but was granted his final wish after a heartfelt plea to be shown an extended trailer went viral.
The 41-year-old’s wife, Paige, via a friend on the social news site, posted that they “WOULD LOVE him to be able to see the Star Trek movie but even the 10 minutes of the trailer would be AMAZING”.
After the post circulated online, Abrams and producer Damon Lindelof phoned Craft’s wife to say they would organise a screening of the unfinished film.
A new message posted on Saturday relayed the sad news that Craft had passed away but was granted his wish and enjoyed the film “immensely”.
“A day or so after the thread began, Paige, Dan's wife, got a voicemail from JJ Abrams and Damon Lindelof that was very nice and very straightforward: a producer for the movie would get in touch with them,” the post, sent by GradyHendrix, read .
“The next day, one of the film's producers showed up at the door of their apartment with a DVD containing a very rough cut of Star Trek: Into Darkness in his hands. Paige had made popcorn, Dan had spent the previous day resting so he could sit through the movie, and after signing about 200 non-disclosure agreements they watched the film and had a blast.
“Afterwards, Dan got back into bed, exhausted, and didn't get out again. Yesterday he was pretty non-responsive and Paige took him to the hospital for hospice care. Last night, at 10:15pm, with Paige and his brother in his room, Dan died. The last thing he got to do that gave him pleasure was watch the new Star Trek movie.”
Abrams, who also directed 2009’s Star Trek: The Future Begins, said he was “unbelievably touched” by Craft’s “very sensitive” story.
