Star Trek Into Darkness Screening: J.J. Abrams Privately Screens Film to Terminally Ill Trekkie

Culture

Star Trek into Darkness, the sequel to the 2009 reboot of the beloved television series, is not expected to hit theaters for a few more months. However, in a show of commendable generosity, director JJ Abrams recently screened the unfinished film for a terminally ill fan.

Abrams; you’ve just earned yourself another fan.

After actually leaving the hospital with his family to attend a theater screening of The Hobbit for a ten-minute preview of Into Darkness, the 41-year old man identified only as Daniel was understandably hurt when the particular theater they visited did not showcase that video. In an attempt to bring some attention to the issue and possibly get Daniel something meaningful, the Trekkie’s loved ones took to Reddit.

Daniel's wife, who also acts has his caregiver, revealed the full story in a Reddit post, hoping it would garner some interest. At the age of 38, the previously healthy Daniel was diagnosed with Leukemia (CML), something that caused him to endure three rounds of chemotherapy before finally getting a successful bone marrow transplant. During this time, Daniel had visited the doctor hundreds of times and was repeatedly hospitalized.

However, after the original treatments seemed to have worked, Daniel was diagnosed with a completely unrelated cancer. According to the initial post, "he has weeks to live."

Well, the post did get some attention, and that too from the man who was perhaps best situated to do something for a Trekkie. Increasingly popular filmmaker JJ Abrams (LostMission Impossible III) granted Daniel an exclusive preview screening of his upcoming film, Star Trek into Darkness.

In a follow up note to the original post, Daniel's wife revealed that the celebrated producer and director had made special arrangements for Daniel and his loved ones to view an unfinished cut of the upcoming movie. Daniel's wife writes, "[Abrams] was concerned that we wouldn't 100% enjoy the screening as it's still being worked on." However, they seemingly loved the entire experience and described Abrams as "a film maker [sic] who obviously makes movies with such care, with a fan like Daniel in mind."

Abrams has been known to be very secretive about his projects, something that is evident in the fact that fans still don't know too much about the upcoming film. So, the fact that Abrams was willing to break that rule of his is truly commendable. As someone who previously begrudged him for turning down Star Wars and opening the gates of hell on the production in the hands of other potentially unsafe directors, I have discovered a new respect for Abrams, one that transcends his business decisions or creative choices.

Star Trek into Darkness is the second film in the franchise handled by Abrams. It will serve as a sequel to the 2009 reboot and is scheduled for theatrical release on May 17, 2013.