"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" screened early for terminally ill fan

A terminally ill "Star Wars" fan is one of the first to see "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."

Daniel Fleetwood, a 31-year-old Texan who is suffering from cancer, had his wish granted to see the highly anticipated film on Thursday. His wife, Ashley, celebrated on her Facebook page when Daniel saw an unfinished version of the movie, thanks to the film's producers and director, J.J. Abrams. Disney Studios confirmed the screening.

"To all our wonderful supporters, friends, family and awesome strangers: Daniels final dream was just granted!!! Today the wonderful Disney and Lucasfilms made his final dream come true, in the amazing typical Disney way, they really do make dreams come true!Daniel just finished watching an unedited version of Star Wars: The Force Awakens!!! We would like to thank the awesomely talented JJ Abrams for calling us yesterday to tell us Danjel was getting his wish granted! We also would like to thank Lynne, Ben and Anahuac for coming to our home and screening the movie for Daniel. Lastly I want to thank ALL the amazing people who helped make this happen, thank you beyond words!!! May the force be with you all smile emoticon ‪#‎forcefordaniel‬ !!!!" the Facebook post read.

The news has drawn so much attention that Ashley Fleetwood on Friday requested that news outlets stop calling. She would prefer, she said, to spend more time with Daniel.

"After I posted the news, our phones began ringing off the hook. We were and still are very exhausted so we silenced our phones for the evening/night. We are very grateful for all the support. Now I want and need to focus 10000% of the little time I have left with Daniel," she wrote.

Daniel had lobbied online for a chance to see the movie, due out Dec. 18. Diagnosed with spindle cell carcinoma, he's been given just a few months to live.

In:
• Cancer