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'Praying for you': Bruce Willis receives support from Sylvester Stallone despite 'Expendables' fall out

Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone starred in the first 'Expendables' in 2010, with the sequel premiering just two years later

Sylvester Stallone is "praying" for his co-star Bruce Willis after the 'Die Hard' star's family announced that he's been diagnosed with the degenerative brain condition called aphasia and will step away from acting. Stallone, 75, sharing a slideshow of photos documenting their decades-long friendship on Instagram wrote, "We go back a long way, praying for the best for you and your wonderful family."

The first snap showed Stallone and Willis aboard one of the Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park's rides during Willis' ex-wife Demi Moore's 30th birthday celebration. Another showed the duo mounted on motorcycles as they made a joint appearance on the David Letterman Show in 2008. A third snap showed Stallone and Willis mingling on the red carpet at the premiere of the HBO documentary 'His Way' in 2011. The 'Rocky' actor shared a behind-the-scenes snap taken during the filming of the first or second 'Expendables' film in the final snap. Stallone and Willis starred in the first 'Expendables' in 2010, with the sequel premiering just two years later in the summer of 2012. 

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Willis portrayed the mysterious CIA agent Mr. Church in the first two films of 'The Expendables'. When negotiations began for the third installment in 2013, Willis was reportedly offered $3 million for just four days of work. Yet the actor demanded $4 million and dropped out of the project when his price wasn’t met.

After Harrison Ford had signed on as Willis' replacement, Stallone published an explosive tweet aimed at the 'Red' star. "WILLIS OUT… HARRISON FORD IN !!!!. GREAT NEWS !!!!! Been waiting years for this!!!!," Stallone tweeted in August 2013. "GREEDY AND LAZY …… A SURE FORMULA FOR CAREER FAILURE," added the 'Rocky' star in September 2013. Meanwhile, Willis downplayed the comments, attributing his decision to more creative reasons.

"Explosions are one of the most boring parts of my job," the 'Die Hard' star explained, as reported by Express. “When you have seen a few fireballs, it’s not exciting any more. Part of my audience enjoys the explosions but to be honest, I’m a bit bored with it." Willis also noted how the genre is notorious for bringing in big bucks. "I’ve worked in all sorts of films, but the action movies are the ones that generate the most revenue," he remarked. "I like to earn lots of money but I do all types: small productions, mega-projects, medium sized, even science fiction."

Despite the public criticism, Stallone insisted in an interview that same September that he still considered Willis a "lifelong friend" and that his tweet came out of "frustration." After a year, Stallone took to Twitter to reveal that he and Willis had officially buried the past. "Made up with BRUCE W. A stand up guy, my mistake," he posted in November 2014.

Meanwhile, social media users flocked over to the comment section of Sylvester's post praying for Willis' health. One wrote, "Two legends." A second added, "Two of Hollywood's greatest legends." A third commented, "Great tribute, Sly - thoughts and prayers for Bruce and his family." A fourth added, "Great friendships last a long time!!". A fifth commented, "Time really flies Sly, have him appear in Expendables 4 and make him go out a bad ass!." A sixth wrote, "Keep punching Bruce!."