Tom Hanks ‘turned down’ Jeff Bezos’ invite to go to space after being quoted £20 million

Tom Hanks has claimed that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos asked him if he would like to take a flight to space, but was going to charge him over £20 million for the experience

Tom Hanks has said he turned down Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ offer of a trip to space before William Shatner took flight.

The actor, 65, claims that the billionaire offered him a 12-minute ride on rocket ship Blue Origin, but was quoted $28 million (£20 million) for the pleasure.

The Apollo 13 actor told Jimmy Kimmel the offer came before Shatner, who reportedly didn’t pay for his seat, became the oldest person to go to space at the age of 90.

Hanks didn’t appear impressed by the invite and told the talk show host: “And you know, it cost like 28million bucks for something like that. I’m doing good, Jimmy, I’m doing good.

“I’m not paying 28 [million] bucks- you know what, we could simulate the experience of going to space right here. It’s about a 12-minute flight…is that about it?”

Hanks then reenacted what the journey could have been like as he lay back in his seat and grunted while shaking his body to simulate take-off.

He said: “You do that for four minutes, alright. You do that for four minutes and then you get up and you’re floating. You take off your seatbelt [and say:] ‘whoa, whoa, this is fabulous! Man, ohh, what?’ then get back in and another four minutes of [grunting noises].”

“I don’t need to spend 28million bucks to do that.”

Shatner, famous for his role as Captain Kirk on Star Trek, Shatner, flew to space on Bezos’ rocket on October 13. It was Blue Origin’s second human flight and lasted slightly over 10 minutes.

The crew on board travelled 347,539 feet above ground level, which is roughly 65 miles.

Bezos was part of the first all-civilian, unpiloted crew on Blue Origin’s first flight in July.

Hanks and Kimmel later discussed the Hollywood star’s latest as an astronaut in Apple TV’s upcoming work Finch.

Hanks plays a robotics engineer who has survived a “cataclysmic solar event” and is tasked with ensuring the safety of his dog and creates a robot to do so.

In 1995, Hanks played a leading role in the iconic docudrama Apollo 13 which portrayed the seventh crewed mission in the Apollo space program and the third meant to land on the Moon.

The movie follows as the craft was launches from Kennedy Space Center on April 11, 1970, before needing to abort its mission after an oxygen tank in the service module failed two days in.

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