Terminally ill Star Wars fan sees Force Awakens a month early

A terminally ill Star Wars fan watched the new movieThe Force Awakenson Thursday evening weeks before its widespread releaseafter a successful social media campaign got the attention of the filmmakers.

Thehashtag#ForceForDanielwas coined by Ashley Fleetwood on Twitter on behalf of her partner Daniel,in an attempt to convince Disney,Lucasfilmand production company Bad Robot to make the special screening happen.

"Today, the wonderful Disney andLucasfilmmade his final dream come true,"Fleetwood wrote onFacebookon Thursday.

Daniel Fleetwood, 32, of Spring, Texas, was diagnosed two years ago withspindle cell sarcoma, a cancer of the connective tissue, Ashleywrote on aGoFundMepageshe created to help cover his medical bills.

Despite surgery and chemotherapy, the cancer spread to his lungs. On Sept. 1, doctors told him he had one to two months to live.

In October, Fleetwood told KPRC-TV in Houston that he doesn't expect to live to see the movie in its theatrical release on Dec. 18.

"I just love Star Wars," he said. "With everything I got,I love Star Wars."

Daniel's story and the hashtag quickly went viral and was retweetedby Star Wars actorsMark Hamill, Peter Mayhew and John Boyega.

The social news website Reddit also helped promote the campaign.

"We would like to thank the awesomely talented J.J. Abramsfor calling us yesterday to tell us Daniel was getting his wish granted!" wrote Ashley Fleetwood.

Hamill, who plays Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars saga, took to Twitter to thank the makers of the upcoming sequel.

Abrams has a history of granting this sort of request. In2013, Abrams allowed Daniel Craft, a New York-based film buff, tosee an early cut of Star Trek: Into Darkness nearly five months ahead of its release after Craft was diagnosed with cancer.

Craft died just days later.