Disney Pledges To Help Dying Dad See New Star Wars Early So He Can Watch It With Son

Lucasfilm

A hospice in Hampshire has reached out to Disney itself to help a patient see the upcoming Star Wars movie with his son before it’s too late.

This Christmas, the Star Wars saga ends with The Rise of Skywalker. The franchise started in 1977, and through soaring highs and a bit of turbulence along the way, The Rise of Skywalker will cap off a story 42 years in the making.

For longtime fans, it’s the must-see movie of the year.

Lucasfilm

Sadly, Rowans Hospice in Waterlooville, Hampshire, has a patient who might not make the film’s December 19 release date, but who is desperate to see the final film with his son.

The hospice sent out a plea on Twitter, writing: 

Can you help? We have a patient who’s a HUGE #StarWars fan. Sadly, time is not on his side for the 20th Dec. His wish is to see the final Star Wars film #RiseOfSkywalker with his young son. If you know ANYBODY who might be able to make it happen, please share with them. Thank you.

The hospice then added another tweet appealing to the director, J.J. Abrams, and Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill, writing: ‘This is our most desperate hour.’

Thankfully, the hospice got a response. Bob Iger, chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, replied to the tweet, saying: ‘Please provide me with the necessary details and we will certainly try.’

Hamill also replied, suggesting they contact Disney and wishing them good luck. The hospice have since contacted Iger directly and are awaiting a response.

Picking up a year after the events of The Last Jedi, our surviving heroes in a galaxy far, far away must band together to face off against the nefarious First Order once and for all.

Check out the trailer for The Rise of Skywalker below: 

The new trilogy’s gang are set to reunite: Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega) and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac). Also, there’s the small matter of Kylo Ren (Adam Driver).

Abrams, who directed The Force Awakens, previously spoke to Rolling Stone about the film, saying he was excited to enter the Star Wars world once again:

I had no intention to return, but when the opportunity presented itself to finish a story that we had begun with these new characters, to tell the last chapter of their story, it felt like there was a chance to do it in a way where we could go beyond, and do better than we did in [The Force Awakens].

I learned so much in that movie and I saw that this was a chance to sort of realise something that we hadn’t quite achieved – and part of that was it was simply the beginning of these new characters and their story.

Here’s hoping Rowans Hospice and Disney’s Bob Iger can make it happen for the hopeful dad.

Every generation has a legend, but the story lives forever – Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits UK cinemas on December 19. 

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Cameron Frew

After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.