How much would you pay to sit next to Leonardo DiCaprio? Now, how much would you pay to do it ... in space?
Apparently $1.5 million is the going rate for a trip to the stars with a star, because that's what some lucky bidder ponied up at the amFAR Cinema Against AIDS Charity Thursday night at Cannes, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The high bidder has paid a price worthy of Jay Gatsby to be seated next to the Oscar nominee and will have a place on Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic space flight. The "Oscars experience" was listed in the auction booklet for the event as a "once-in-a-lifetime trip to space with a mystery guest." There's no indication whether the bidder knew ahead of time who he or she would be sitting next to.
Another pair of seats on the same flight went to a second bidder for $2.3 million moments later.
Weinstein Co. founder Harvey Weinstein appears to have had something to do with the big bid to be DiCaprio's seatmate; he told the Hollywoood Reporter before bidding began, "We're going to get someone to bid on a seat next to him."
Another package featuring DiCaprio -- which includes tickets to the premiere and after-party of his new film "Wolf on Wall Street," along with a room at the Beverly Hills Hotel, a Chopard watch and tickets to some high-profile Oscar parties and Heidi Klum as the winner's date -- went for $1.94 million.
Other items auctioned off included Adrien Brody's Bulgari watch -- which he was wearing ($116,613) and a private in-home performance with Duran Duran ($518,000). AmFAR reported it had raised $25 million from the event, up from $11 million in 2012.