J.J. Abrams screens 'Star Trek Into Darkness' for terminally ill fan

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Director J.J. Abrams invited a terminally ill "Star Trek" fan and his wife to a special screening for the franchise's upcoming sequel after the man's friends and family lobbied for help from Reddit's Trekkie community.

On Christmas Day, Redditor ideeeyut asked for help for a 41-year-old "film buff," identified only as "Dan," who was diagnosed with leukemia at age 38.

"There is nothing left to do but make him comfortable, at 41, he is jaundice & his liver is enlarged, his body has had enough, he has weeks to live," the post quoted Dan's wife as saying. After his illness prevented him from seeing the 10-minute preview that aired before "The Hobbit," she asked if there was any way for Dan to see the new "Star Trek," or at least the extended trailer.

"If there is anything any one of you or anyone you know could do to make this happen that would be an amazing, kind and generous thing," she said.

Readers responded by posting the request to Twitter and Facebook, and making calls and inquiries to Paramount Pictures and Bad Robot, Abrams' production company.

Just days later, Abrams called Dan's wife to invite him to a private screening of the film -- a surprising move for a filmmaker who's notoriously secretive about his work.

She updated Reddit with the good news.

This isn't the first time Abrams has reached out to a terminally ill fan. According to Zap2it, Abrams offered "Last Lecture" college professor Randy Pausch a cameo in the first "Star Trek."

"Star Trek" hits theaters in May.