Hollywood director Gareth Edwards visited St Michael’s Hospice back in August to give Neil Hanvey an insight into the unfinished film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, following an online campaign which made international headlines.

Thirty-six-year-old Neil, who lived in Hereford and worked at Withington-based allpay, died just two days after the surprise visit.

Meeting Neil, his wife Andrea and their two young children made such an impression on Gareth that he wanted to send a video message to everyone who supported the Rogue One Wish campaign.

The short pre-recorded message, which contains an exclusive announcement about the new movie, will be shown before an 11am public screening of the new film at the Odeon cinema in Hereford on Sunday 18th December.

Andrea, her family and supporters, including some of the people responsible for making the campaign a success, will attend the screening, which has been made possible by Lucasfilm Ltd, Odeon and St Michael’s Hospice.

The film, starring Felicity Jones and Diego Luna, is set to be watched by tens of millions of fans, although the screening showing Gareth’s message will be the only one in the world to do so.

During the campaign, an online video of St Michael’s Hospice staff singing an adapted version of the Star Wars theme tune to him was viewed more than 60,000 times.

Within days, Gareth, who has also directed Monsters and a remake of Godzilla, caught a train from London, and made Neil’s wish become a reality.

‘We’re delighted that Gareth has agreed to record this message, particularly at such a busy time for him,’ said St Michael’s Director of Income and Marketing, Ruth Denison.

‘It will mean so much for Andrea and the rest of Neil’s family to know how much the Rogue One Wish campaign touched Gareth and all at Lucasfilm.’
To book tickets for the special 2D screening, which takes place at 11am on Sunday, visit: http://www.odeon.co.uk/cinemas/hereford/217/