Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Tuesday night, Tom Hanks revealed he was originally offered William Shatner’s spot on Blue Origin rocket. Why would Hanks turn down this extraordinary ride? The reason is surprisingly simple: money.
While promoting his new film, Finch, Hanks confirmed he was asked to join the space mission, but was not willing to pay the $28 million price for the ticket. Speaking to Jimmy Kimmel, he explained, “It costs like $28 million or something like that. And I’m doing good Jimmy. I’m doing good, but I ain’t paying $28 million.” Hanks then went on to mock the experience, saying he’s more than capable of replicating a rocket taking off by rocking his chair back and forth. When Kimmel asked if Hanks would go to space if tickets were free, he responded, “I would do it on occasion just in order to experience the joy-pretending I’m a billionaire.”
In Hollywood, Hanks is not the first celebrity to get the outer space treatment. William Shatner took part in the Blue Origin flight last month about 66 miles above Earth, which lasted around 10 minutes. Also, Tom Cruise is partnering with Elon Musk and NASA in order to make the first movie filmed in space. The mission by the Dragon Axion Mission 1 with Cruise is scheduled to take place early 2022.
Although Hanks may not be leaving Earth’s atmosphere with Bezos, he is thought to be among the 600 people from 58 countries with reserved tickets to Richard Branson’s commercial space liner, Virgin Galactic. Other celebrities rumored to have already bought tickets are Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Lady Gaga, and Justin Bieber.
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