CHICAGO • A terminally ill Star Wars fan is hoping producers will grant his dying wish of an early screening of the latest instalment of the sci-fi blockbuster.

An online campaign to support his quest drew the attention of actor Mark Hamill - who plays the legendary Luke Skywalker - who retweeted two Twitter posts hoping to bring the "Force for Daniel".

John Boyega, who plays the lead in the upcoming The Force Awakens, also retweeted the campaign.

Daniel Fleetwood, 32, has been a fan since he was eight or nine years old. He is dying of a rare form of connective tissue cancer.

His doctors told him in July he had only a couple of months left to live, but he said his desire to see the movie - set for release on Dec 18 - was helping him to hold on.

"With everything I got, I love Star Wars," he told KPRC-TV in Houston, Texas.

He is spending his last days at his Texas home in hospice care with his wife, Ashley.

There is a precedent for his request. The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams granted a similar wish to Star Trek fan Daniel Craft, who died shortly after watching a rough cut of Star Trek Into Darkness in 2013.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE