Tom Hanks’ volleyball in Cast Away is being sold at an auction today

Have you ever wanted to own a film prop?

For anyone whose answer is “yes”, you’ll have a chance to get your hands on a very memorable one. The problem is you’ll have to fork out quite a lot of money – the item is estimated to be sold for up to £60,000.

The item is Wilson, the volleyball that was Tom Hanks’ closest companion during his four years stranded alone on a desert island in the 2000 film Cast Away.

Directed by Robert Zemeckis, the film follows Chuck Noland (Hanks), a FedEx deliveryman turned plane crash survivor. After finding the item, Chuck uses his bloody handprint to draw a face onto it and speaks to it regularly throughout the film.

The listing, featured on Prop Store, says the prop is “heavily distressed with paint applied to create a worn, dirtied appearance”.

It adds: “There is a dark brown-and-red ‘face’ on the front, representing Chuck’s bloody handprint. It features a faded pair of eyes, nose, and mouth. The top is torn open, and an array of tobacco stalks are inserted to replicate the appearance of hair.”

Alluding to the end of the film, in which Wilson floats away from Hanks’ character, the listing writes: “This version of Wilson was placed in water for long periods during filming.

“Therefore, the overall shape of the ball warped slightly, and the facial detailing became somewhat blurred compared to shots earlier in the film.”

The auction started on Tuesday (9 November) at £20,000, with four bids currently in. At the time of writing, the latest offer was £42,500, with the auction officially starting at 3pm GMT.