Man, this will get the tears flowing on a Friday morning.
Dune: Part 2 hit theaters on March 1st, but one superfan got to watch the movie a few months before it came out thanks to some quick thinking and fast action by director Denis Villeneuve and Josée Gagnon, the founder of Canadian charity L’Avant.
According to the Washington Post, a man in his 50’s was given only a few weeks to live back in January and was moved to a Quebec palliative care facility to be as comfortable as possible during his final days. He was a big movie buff and had one final, albeit big, wish before he passed: Watch Dune: Part 2.
Gagnon, who has a history of making final wishes come true, began working her magic with a Facebook post asking if anyone could connect her with Villeneuve. It worked and soon she was in contact with one of his assistants and a plan was made to bring the film directly to the man.
Villeneuve gave his actual laptop to the assistant and had them fly to Quebec to set up a private screening just for the man.
With curtains drawn and NDAs signed, they allowed the man to watch a movie he had so longed to see just days before he died.
While he wasn’t able to make it through the entire nearly 3 hour saga, everyone came away with the feeling of success. It wasn’t actually about the film or him knowing how it ended. It was about everyone showing love to a man at the end of his days, making him feel special one last time.
Man, I almost have tears in my eyes typing this up. What an awesome thing everyone did for this guy and it makes me want to see the movie that much more, knowing that the people behind it are actually good souls.
That’s what it’s all about, folks. Don’t let anyone tell you there’s not good out there in the world.
Below is the full story in the words of Josée Gagnon. While you’ll have to translate it from French, it’s well worth the read because even though the phrasing gets wonky, you feel just how much she cared for this man and all of the people she works for.
