It's not John Travolta's fault that the new Disney+ film being screened in London is already going beyond schedule.
Thirty years after he initially thought of adapting the story for the big screen, the star of the short film in question, The Shepherd, is sitting patiently in the audience.
He gladly gives up his chair and settles near the end of the row as it becomes apparent that more people are entering the screening room than there are seats available.
The plot is not what you may think, even though it is called The Shepherd and it takes place on Christmas Eve. It is set in 1957 and centers on a teenage pilot in the Royal Air Force who gets into problems while returning home for Christmas.
He accepts his fate because his radio is broken and his navigational systems are down. However, the pilot unexpectedly discovers another plane flying by a man who offers to assist in guiding him to safety through the mist and darkness.
The novella, written in 1975, is an adaptation of a work by Frederick Forsyth, another well-known figure in the crowd. By the time Travolta read the book, he had just happened to go through his own near-death encounter while flying an aircraft.
"The kismet of the project is, I actually experienced a total electrical failure, not in a Vampire but a corporate jet, over Washington DC, prior to my discovering the book," he tells reporters following the screening.
"As a result, the book spoke to me more when I read it because of this personal experience.
"I understood what it was like to genuinely believe that you are going to die. Considering that, despite having two excellent jet engines, I lacked any electronics or instrumentation.
"And like this youngster, who was so brilliantly depicted by actor Ben Radcliffe, I felt it was over. He portrayed the hopelessness that arises when one believes one is about to pass away."
With his family present, the Grease star remembers, "I thought, 'This is it, I can't believe I'm going to die in this plane.'"
"And then, as though by magic, we dropped to a lower height. I recognized that Washington National Airport was close to the Washington DC Monument and made a landing, much like [character Freddie] did in the movie. I've lived this, so I'm reading this book and stating that."
Forsyth's book was not discovered by Travolta until several years following his own near-death experience.
"I recently bought a vampire jet that looked exactly like the one in the movie. After two years of flying it, I was making a film in Canada when I happened to stumble onto a little novella with a Vampire jet on the front. I knew right away that I wanted to read it."
Travolta claims that as he read the book, he was overcome with the impression that he had actually witnessed the events.
"I fell in love with this book right away. And it was my desire to one day make it into a film. I bought the rights to this novel a few years later, but I was working on movies nonstop since it was released shortly after Pulp Fiction.
"After ten years, I gave up and accepted that I would never be able to complete it. I was reunited with the group when Iain Softley, the director, who had also fallen in love with it, emerged as a hero."
More than three decades ago, when Travolta first thought of playing the role in the movie, he pictured himself as the inexperienced rookie pilot.
Rather, he plays the elder man who assists him throughout the movie. "I was young enough then that I could've played that part," he says with a grin. "But I had to wait 30 years to play the shepherd."
Since the majority of the movie was filmed in the UK, Travolta's selfies with fans at Wetherspoons and Morrisons in Norfolk in April make sense.
The first opportunity for an audience to witness the story come to life on screen is this Thursday's screening, which is packed because some people are here for the second showing an hour later.
When it debuts on Disney+ in December, the majority of people will see it there. At 38 minutes, it's the perfect length for a family-friendly film that might be watched easily during the holidays.
Alongside Millie Kent, Simon Wilson, and Steven Mackintosh, the picture is produced by Oscar winner Alfonso Cuarón, who also directed Roma and Gravity.
The BBC was among the organizations that have previously adapted The Shepherd for the theater and radio. Since 1979, the tale has been told on Canada's CBC radio network nearly every Christmas.
"One of the reasons I think it is so enduring is the genius of the story," Softley states. It forces you to consider what is essential and what constitutes home.
"It goes above and beyond that. It has to do with the sacred nature seen in many religions that takes care of the lost traveler and brings them home.
"It's also selflessness," he continues. "I believe that at Christmas, you consider others who are less fortunate in addition to your own family members.
"I think it encapsulates all of that, and I think that's why people find it moving and resonant."