Weeks before “A Minecraft Movie” dominated the box office this month, film crew workers in Georgia came together to help make a dying boy’s wish come true.
Channel 2’s Lori Wilson spoke to a mother who says this all started with an email to a friend.
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Seeing “A Minecraft Movie” in theaters is a dream come true for gamers of all ages. For Justyne Lobello’s son, Kevin, it was his final wish.
“When he was about five, six, I introduced him to ‘Minecraft’ just on an iPad that I had,” Lobello said. “He immediately took to it and started begging me for a big creeper plush within weeks of him starting to play.”
When Lobello learned in February that Kevin’s rare pediatric brain cancer would take his life before he could see it in theaters, she did what she could to make it happen. She sent a Facebook message to a friend in the movie industry.
“We made it happen in two weeks,” Lobello said.
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Kim Ross, a professional snake wrangler on TV and movie sets, got the message from Lobello and posted in a Facebook group to see if anyone could help Kevin.
“The film industry is large, but we’re one big family. Everyone started saying, ‘Oh, I know someone who did props on that movie,’ or ‘I know someone who did sound on that movie,’” Ross said.
That also led to something big 12 days later.
“They rolled out the red carpet, it was green and brown,” Ross said.
Director Jared Hess got involved, and in a few days, the studio had arranged for a private screening for Kevin, sitting next to one of the stars of the movie, Sebastian Hansen.
Kevin also got a personal FaceTime call from stars Jason Momoa and Jack Black.
“He said, ‘Are you Steve?’ And Jack goes, ‘I am Steve,’ and Kevin lost his mind,” Lobello explained.
It was the kind of movie magic that’s usually reserved for the big screen. A showing of kindness by Georgia film crew members and the biggest Hollywood studio, who worked together to make a dying boy’s wish come true.
There was no talk of Kevin’s terminal illness or the sadness; instead, a “Minecraft” lifeline thrown from Hollywood to Georgia.
Kevin died 11 days after fulfilling his wish.
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