Tom Hanks was asked to go to space with Jeff Bezos but declined: ‘I ain’t paying $28m’

Tom Hanks said that Amazon boss Jeff Bezos asked him if he wanted to go into space—but he declined after explaining why he wouldn’t pay the colossal asking price.

On a recent segment of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Hanks spoke about his upcoming post-apocalyptic film Finch and stated that he’d been asked if he wanted to go up there and observe the world from a different perspective.

But he declined since he wanted $28 million (£20 million) for the opportunity.

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Even top Hollywood stars refrain from wasting their money, it seems.

When asked if he had gotten the offer to go to space. “Well yeah, provided I pay,” Hanks said before adding that it cost around $28m.

“And I’m doing good Jimmy; I’m doing good. But I ain’t paying $28 million. You know what, we could simulate the experience of going to space right now.”

After saying this, Hanks began improvising what the experience would look like.

He imitated launching off by moving around in his seat, then claimed to be floating in zero gravity in the same chair, and then proceeded to shake around in the chair to mimic the touchdown.

“I don’t need to spend 28 million bucks to do that,” Hanks said after the reenactment.

He might be onto something.

On the other hand, William Shatner seemed to have a blast while in space. Once he returned from his space odyssey, he said: “There’s this little tiny blue skin that’s 50 miles wide. And we pollute it, and it’s our means of living. And I was struck so profoundly by it.”

Regarding the four minutes of weightlessness he felt, Shatner said, “You could talk about weightlessness all you want, but the feeling of weightlessness... is indescribable.”

Finch is set to be released on November 5 on Apple TV+.