On the 16th of January, almost a month left until the official release of “Dune: Part 2“, Denis Villeneuve’s assistant had an urgent flight to the palliative care facility located about 130 miles north of Quebec City with a very special mission. A terminally ill man made an unusual wish before his last breath: to see the long-awaited sequel to 2021’s “Dune: Part 1”.
Official worldwide release of “Dune: Part 2” was scheduled on 1st of March, 2024
Image credits: Warner Bros Pictures
It all started with Josée Gagnon and her Canadian charity L’Avant, which focuses on helping people at the end of their lives realize their dreams. “There was a man my age at the end of his life in palliative care home,” said Gagnon. “This man, a filmmaker, had said that before he died, he would have liked to see the movie Dune 2,” she added.
The whole idea didn’t seem very realistic at the beginning. Gagnon had doubts about getting Villeneuve’s attention. “It’s an American movie worth 120 million, so it was impossible to get him to listen, of course. But my friend said to me, ‘Josée, you can do everything yourself. Since when has anything stopped you? Write to Denis Villeneuve.’ I told myself… He was so right. Why not? What have I got to lose?”
Canadian charity L’Avant founder Josée Gagnon shared the urgent message on the social media
The patient had just few weeks left when Gagnon came up with an idea to share the message on L’Avant’s Facebook page: “I would like to pull a magic trick for someone at the end of their life. Would anyone be able to put me in contact with filmmaker Denis Villeneuve (director of Dune) by chance???? I know it’s ambitious, but I’ve always succeeded in my crazy ideas, so I’m dark with naivety and hope. <…> The person in question has a few weeks left, so there’s no time to waste.”
Villeneuve and his wife, Tanya Lapointe, who happens to be one of the producers of “Dune: Part 2“, were extremely touched by Gagnon message and this man’s dying will. They tried to arrange for the patient to fly to Montreal or Los Angeles, but he was too weak.
Villeneuve initially tried to arrange for the patient to fly to Montreal or Los Angeles, but patient was too weak
The situation was “a race against the clock.” Therefore, on the 16th of January, Villeneuve gave his own laptop to his assistant with a complete version of the movie and asked them to fly out to the patient.
“We gave up our cell phones, signed a discharge, closed the curtains, then, the late man got to watch Dune 2 alone with a house maid.”
Villeneuve sent his own laptop so the man could see the film
Image credits: dunemovie.net
“The man was so weak we thought he might pass away listening to the movie. He didn’t have the strength to listen through it all,” Gagnon shares about the moment. The patient watched the film with French subtitles. He was in such a bad shape and in so much pain that he wasn’t able to view the full 2 hours and 46 minutes of the film. Yet it wasn’t the most important part here – what was truly touching – was that complete strangers gave it their all to make this man’s last wish come true.
Dune: Part 2 had a special early screening for a terminally-ill fan
Sadly, just a few days later, after watching the movie, the patient bid farewell to the world. Gagnon hopes this story will inspire people to fight for their dreams no matter what difficulty life puts in their path: “People have to continue to believe that everything is possible when it is done with heart.” “I smile like an idiot thinking about this beautiful story,” she said. “Thinking of him.”
Gagnon didn’t watch the movie yet, though always smiles whenever she hears about it
People from all around the world were touched by this heartfelt gesture
