Tom Hanks has spoken out about his disappointment that Tim Allen was replaced by Chris Evans to star as Buzz Lightyear in the new Pixar movie, Lightyear.
Many were quite surprised when Captain America’s Chris Evans was chosen for the new movie over Tim Allen, who had been the voice behind the Buzz Lightyear character for all four of the Toy Story franchise movies.
Hollywood legend, Tom Hanks, acted alongside Allen for those four movies playing the role of Woody, and he’s now revealed his disappointment in the change of actor. But it might not be for the reason you think.
Tom Hanks wanted to go head to head with Tim Allen in movie theaters
It turns out Hanks’s disappointment has not much to do with concern for his colleague missing out on a job but more down to good old-fashioned competitiveness.
In an interview with Cinema Blend, Hanks explained that his new movie, Elvis, will be playing in theaters at the same time as Lightyear and that he had wanted to go head to head with his old acting buddy Tim Allen.
The interviewer asked the Saving Private Ryan actor if it would be “strange to be in theaters opposite a Buzz Lightyear film,” to which Hanks responded, “how about that?”
He continued: “Actually, I wanted to go head to head with Tim Allen, and then they didn’t let Tim Allen do it.” The Big actor then threw his hands up into the air and added, “I don’t understand that.”
However, it’s not really clear if Hanks was genuinely disappointed or was just joking.
In the interview, Hanks also spoke about how he’s pleased the public is now returning to the cinema after the pandemic. He explained, “just as long as people come back to the motion picture theater. I want to back into the theater with a bunch of strangers and leave with something in common.”
Why did Pixar choose Chris Evans over Tim Allen for Lightyear?
The real reason Evans was chosen over Allen was not just to upset Tom Hanks. The movie producers have claimed that they chose Evans so as not to confuse the movie going public. It all comes down to the fact that this Lightyear is a different character to the one in Toy Story.
Producer Galyn Susman has since explained that in 1995, Tim Allen’s Buzz Lightyear was a toy given to Andy and that toy was based on a character the boy had seen in a movie. And 2022’s Lightyear is that movie. It’s a sidequel, not a prequel or a sequel. Simple.