A Dog’s Purpose is a 2017 American comedy-drama film directed by Lasse Hallström and written by W. Bruce Cameron, Cathryn Michon, Audrey Wells, Maya Forbes and Wally Wolodarsky, based on the 2010 novel of the same name by W. Bruce Cameron. The film stars Britt Robertson, KJ Apa, Juliet Rylance, John Ortiz, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Peggy Lipton, Dennis Quaid and Josh Gad.

The film is a co-production between Amblin Entertainment, Reliance Entertainment, Walden Media and Pariah Entertainment Group.[4][5] It was released by Universal Pictures on January 27, 2017, and grossed over $196 million worldwide.

A week prior to the film’s release, a video surfaced on TMZ showing footage taken from the set of the film, which showed a German Shepherd dragged and dipped into rushing water while visibly resisting. After initial backlash, it was determined the video had been deliberately edited to mislead viewers.[6]