A Star Trek fan with a terminal cancer condition who was granted an advance screening of Star Trek Into Darkness by its director J. J. Abrams, has died.
Diagnosed with cancer less than six weeks ago, Daniel Craft’s uniquely, poignant wish to see the highly anticipated Star Trek sequel was posted on the internet message board site Reddit , by his friend Doug at the request of Daniel’s wife, Paige.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr , online buzz about the unusual request snowballed after it was linked by other social media sites and media outlets until — eventually — it reached Abrams.
Within days of the Reddit thread starting, Paige retrieved a voicemail from Abrams and Damon Lindelof — one of Star Trek Into Darkness’ three scriptwriters — that said a producer would be getting in touch with them.
In a subsequent post on Reddit , family friend, Grady Hendrix, revealed that literally the next day a producer turned up at the Craft’s apartment with a rough cut DVD in hand.
The Crafts were ready.
The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Paige made popcorn and Dan had rested the day before so that he could be able to see the film in one sitting. After signing numerous non-disclosure agreements, the couple watched the film and had a “blast.”
“Of course, he loved the film. It was the last thing he got to do before he passed away.”
Before he died, Paige posted message on Reddit which emphasized the “heartwarming” aspect of their experience, rather than the tragic. She wrote that for a “huge film buff” like Daniel, seeing the early cut had been an amazing and surprising gift.
Screencrush reported that Craft died last night on January 4. The Facebook Page for the New York Asian Film Festival, of which Craft was the director, posted a message that read:
“Last night around 10:15pm, Dan Craft, who has been a member of Subway Cinema since 2004, passed away. His wife and brother were with him when he went, and he wasn’t in any pain. He’d been a bit loopy for a few days as his liver failed and toxins built up in his blood, and on Thursday his wife asked him if he needed to go to the bathroom. ‘I’m going…’ he proclaimed, ‘Into the future.’
See you there, Dan.
Dan Craft: 1971 – 2013
We miss you.”
On Friday, Craft was taken to hospital for hospice care and died with his wife and brother at his bedside. He was 41.
Including Abram, Lindelof, Bad Robot, and Reddit in a thank you, Hendrix told The Hollywood Reporter that his friend would never have asked for the spotlight his story is now getting.
He added :
“Dan would be rolling his eyes at being ‘the inspirational cancer story,’ but he’s done a lot for movies over the years. It’s nice that the movies finally did something for him.”
Directed by Abrams , Star Trek Into Darkness stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Benedict Cumberbatch, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Karl Urban, Bruce Greenwood, and Alice Eve.
The film is slated to hit theaters on May 17 in IMAX and 3D. To see 13 recently released stills trek here .
