A Terminally Ill 'Star Wars' Fan Is Hoping to See 'Rogue One' Early

Neil Hanvey is a professional British illustrator who’s been stricken by cancer, and in April, he was informed that he only had six to eight months left to live. That horrific prognosis means the lifelong Star Wars fan likely won’t make it long enough to see the franchise’s latest installment, this December’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story — a situation that his wife, health-care assistant, and legions of social-media supporters are now doing their best to rectify.

As explained by this Facebook post, Hanvey’s wife Andrea, along with his health care assistant Amy Duncan, have taken to the Internet to see if they can make Neil’s dream to see Rogue One before he passes away come true. Duncan’s original Facebook post about Neil’s cause has already been shared over 1,300 times, and she’s heard from Industrial Light & Magic (the company behind LucasFilm’s special effects), although so far, there’s been no confirmation that a special screening will take place.

Nonetheless, using the hashtag #rogueonewish, Hanvey and Duncan have turned Neil’s dream into a social-media mission, like this tweet from St. Michael’s Hospice in Hereford, U.K., that shows his work colleagues posing in Stormtrooper masks.

There’s precedent to such make-a-wish undertakings proving successful — last year, Lucasfilm and director J.J. Abrams granted fan Daniel Fleetwood an early sneak peek at Star Wars: The Force Awakens before his untimely passing, and Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds also made sure that die-hard fan Connor McGrath saw a rough cut of his blockbuster superhero movie before the teenager succumbed to cancer earlier this year.

To lend your support to Hanvey’s attempts to see Rogue One ahead of its Dec. 16 premiere, check out the #rogueonewish Twitter page here.

Watch the ‘Rogue One’ trailer: