Why Tom Hanks Turned Down Jeff Bezos’ Invitation To Space

William Shatner became the oldest person to travel to space aboard Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket. There could’ve been another star aboard the quick ride to space. However, Apollo 13 star, Tom Hanks, had to politely decline the invitation that he had received from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. It turns out that Tom Hanks had about 28 million good reasons to decline the invitation that he had received to go to space. Maybe 28 million and one. With how many bad things have happened to Tom in his movies and in real life while traveling the rest of the passengers may have not been as pleased to see him instead of Captain Kirk commanding the mission. Tom Hanks told Jimmy Kimmel that Bezos didn’t exactly invite him to space.

Tom Hanks Would’ve Had To Pay Jeff Bezos 28 Million Dollars to Go to Space

About that invite that Tom Hanks had gotten from Jeff Bezos. It wasn’t exactly an invitation it was more like a suggestion that if Hanks would pay Bezos 28 million dollars he could gladly take him to space. Although Tom Hanks, did mention that he’s doing quite well financially 28 million dollars for a 12-minute ride to space is a little too much for him. When asked by Jimmy Kimmel about the invitation Hanks replied,

““Well, yeah, provided I pay!”, he would then go on to add, ““You know, it cost 28 million bucks or something like that, and I’m doing good, Jimmy, I’m doing good. But I ain’t paying 28 million bucks.”

Is That The End of Tom Hanks’s Space Travel Aspirations?

Tom Hanks made it very clear that if the ticket to space remains at such a high price tag he’s probably going to stay put here on earth. Does that mean that he is shutting the door on space travel completely? While joking that he could simulate space travel from the comfort of his own home and even doing some acting improvisation on Jimmy Kimmel’s couch simulating space travel Tom Hanks did admit that space travel would be something that he’d be interested in. To go with Bezos though he’d have to get an invite that included the full price tag of the ticket for the 12-minute ride. Hanks replied to Kimmel’s question about going to space for free by saying,

“I would do it on occasion just in order to experience the joy — pretending I’m a billionaire.”

It Turns Out He Maybe Interested In Paying For A Trip To Space … Not With Jeff Bezos Though

Reports indicate that Hanks is one of the people that gave Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson 250k to reserve his ticket about his space travel company. Hanks is part of a list that seemingly includes, the likes of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, (no word on whether they’re looking for spots on the same or a different flight now) as well as Justin Beiber, Lady Gaga, and another former couple Russell Brand, and Katy Perry. Sometimes you lose sight of how much more money these tech giants have compared to the rest of the world. When top Hollywood actors have to settle for the cheap option it really puts things back into perspective!