He Sold His Dog for $40. Then Bought Him Back for $15,000.

Before Rocky made him a star, Sylvester Stallone was flat broke. He couldn't pay his electricity bill. He couldn't afford food. And he had a 130-pound bull mastiff named Butkus that he could barely feed.

The Sale Outside a 7-Eleven

Desperate and out of options, Stallone stood outside a 7-Eleven in New York and sold Butkus to a stranger for 0. It wasn't a decision - it was survival. He later called it the lowest point of his entire life, worse than any rejection or failed audition.

At the time, Stallone had been turned down by every studio in Hollywood. He was sleeping in the Port Authority Bus Terminal. His bank account was essentially empty. Selling his dog wasn't a dramatic gesture - it was a man who literally could not afford dog food.

The Rocky Script Changes Everything

Stallone wrote the script for Rocky in three and a half days. When producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff bought it, multiple studios offered up to 50,000 for the screenplay - on the condition that Stallone would not star in the film. They wanted Ryan O'Neal or Burt Reynolds. Stallone refused every offer.

He eventually accepted a deal for just 5,000 plus a percentage of the profits, with himself as the lead. The film was made on a budget of roughly million.

Buying Butkus Back

The moment Stallone had money, he tracked down Butkus's new owner. The man knew Stallone was desperate, and charged him 5,000 to return the dog - 375 times what he'd originally paid.

Stallone paid it without hesitation. He later said on Instagram that Butkus was worth every penny.

Butkus went on to appear in both Rocky and Rocky II, walking alongside Stallone in the iconic Philadelphia street scenes. The dog who almost got sold for scrap metal money became one of the most recognizable animals in film history.

Rocky grossed 25 million worldwide and won the Academy Award for Best Picture. The man who sold his dog for 0 became one of the biggest movie stars on the planet.