Ailing ‘Star Trek’ fan who got ‘Into Darkness’ sneak dies

A dedicated “Star Trek” fan with terminal cancer was granted his last wish with a private screening of “Star Trek Into Darkness” before dying just days later on Jan. 4.

Daniel Craft, one of the directors of the New York Asian Film Festival, was able to view a DVD screener of J.J. Abrams’ upcoming “Star Trek” movie thanks to Abrams. Craft died of liver cancer, according to fellow NYAFF founder Grady Hendrix.

In a post on the “Star Trek” section of Reddit.com, Hendrix thanked the online community for helping getting the story picked up by the media and eventually onto the radar of Abrams, who dispatched a producer to Craft’s New York home with a rough cut of the film.

“The last thing he got to do that gave him pleasure was watch the new ‘Star Trek’ movie. And it’s because of you,” Hendrix wrote.

In a post on the New York Asian Film Festival’s Facebook page, one of the final things Craft said to his wife was “I’m going ... into the future.”

Actor Zachary Quinto, who plays Spock in the new “Trek” films, noted Craft’s passing on Twitter, writing, “My heart is with the family of dan craft. ‘may flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.’”

This isn’t the first time Abrams has used his position as the current mastermind of the “Star Trek” movie franchise to provide a measure of happiness to the dying. In 2008, the filmmaker extended an invitation to Randy Pausch, the dying college professor and “Last Lecture” author, to visit the set of the first rebooted film and appear in a small cameo. (Pausch can be seen as a crew member of the USS Kelvin in “Star Trek.”)

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