Dune: Part Two director Denis Villeneuve made a dying movie fan's wish come true when he sent his laptop to a Canadian palliative care facility so the fan could see the long-awaited sequel to 2021's Dune: Part One ahead of its official release.
The director had his laptop with the unreleased cut of the film delivered by his assistant to the facility in Quebec for the early private screening days before the patient's death.
Canadian charity L’Avant founder Josée Gagnon shared the "story of pure magic" on Facebook detailing how her charity was able to make the dream come true for the unnamed patient.
She explained:
"There was a man my age at the end of his life in Palliative Care Home."
"This man, a filmmaker, had said that before he died he would have liked to see the movie Dune 2."
Gagnon was initially doubtful she would get Villeneuve's attention before the patient's death, since the blockbuster movie at the time wasn't being released until the end of February 2024.
But a conversation she had with a friend convinced her not to give up.
She recalled the friend telling her:
"Jose, you can do everything yourself, since when is something stopping you? Write to Denis Villeneuve."
Gagnon thought to herself:
"He is so right. Why not. What have I got to lose?"
L'Avant, which helps people near death realize their dreams, wrote a post saying:
“I would like to make some magic for a person at the end of their life."
Time was of the essence, according to the post, because the patient had only “a few more weeks left.”
The post later gave an update indicating the request reached Villeneuve and his wife, Tanya Lapointe, who serves as the film producer.
They were incredibly moved by the patient's dying wish and told Gagnon:
"He is precisely what movies are made for."
Villeneuve and his wife initially tried to arrange for the patient to fly to Montreal or Los Angeles to view the film but Gagnon said it was "impossible" because the patient was "too weak."
Gagnon noted, "Time was flying by. Dying man, dying" and the situation was "a race against the clock."
A breakthrough came on January 16 when the director arranged for his assistant to fly to Quebec with Villeneuve's laptop and bring it to the palliative care facility located about 130 miles north of Quebec City.
Said Gagnon:
"We gave up our cell phones, signed discharge, closed the curtains, then, the late man got to watch Dune 2 alone with a house maid."
Because the patient didn't speak English, the film was viewed with French subtitles. Gagnon added that the man “was so weak that we thought he might die while watching the film."
The man was unable to view the entirety of the two hours and 46 minutes of the film. He was in a tremendous amount of pain and had to stop viewing halfway through the movie.
"He didn't have the strength to listen through it all," she said, adding:
"It didn't really matter. This man who had had a very difficult start to life saw extremely important people mobilize to fulfill his final will."
"Then this was worth all the gold in the world."
Gagnon said he died a few days later, “taking the secret of the film with him."
Dune: Part Two is the sequel to Dune: Part One, which is a remake of the 1984 David Lynch film based on the 1965 novel of the same name by Frank Herbert.
The latest sequel opened in the U.S. on March 1, 2024, to favorable critic reviews and grossed over $198 million worldwide, making it the fifth highest-grossing film so far this year.
Gagnon said she has not yet seen the film but will smile every time she hears about it.
She said she plans to see it with the friend who encouraged her to reach out to Villeneuve to fulfill the dying man's wish.
"I'll smile like an idiot the whole time thinking about this beautiful story. Thinking about him," she said of the late patient, adding:
"I hope when you listen to him you will also think of him. Then to the big heart of Denis Villeneuve and his team."
Her post concluded with the hashtag #toutestpossible, which is French for "anything is possible."
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