One of the most beautiful scenes in Rocky (1976) is when Adrien, Rocky Balboa’s girlfriend, gives him a nice caramel bullmastiff weighing 65 kilos (the dogs of the breed are really heavy, average of 55 kilos). “It’s to keep you company when you run,” she says. The harmony between the two big guys is perfect. But there were reasons for that. Butkus already belonged to Sylvester Stallone. Off-screen, they starred in a story that, if filmed, would bring audiences to tears. The actor, an illustrious unknown in the early 1970s, was forced to sell the dog for $40 to a convenience store owner in New York.

Sly was broke, not a penny in his pocket. Weeks later, the fight between Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner served as an inspiration for him to write the screenplay for Rocky – Wepner, a 37-year-old boxer, until the last round against the world champion. It took 20 hours for the text to be ready. Stallone contacted several Hollywood producers and imposed a condition: he would star in the film. After being reluctant, two executives agreed to pay $35,000 for the story. Now, it was time to retrieve Butkus.

The new owner, however, wanted to profit high on the remorse of others. And he succeeded: the actor agreed to buy the dog back for $15,000. Years later, when Rocky was being filmed, Stallone had the idea of ​​putting him on stage. The bullmastiff was successful and ended up being called to act also in Rocky II – A Revenge (1979). In the film credits, he appears as Butkus Stallone. In March 2017, the eternal Balboa remembered his best friend on his Instagram account. “He was worth every penny!” he wrote. Butkus died of the heart in 1981.