You might think that it was the dog that made John Wick possible (along with Keanu Reeves, of course), but as it turns out, the whole assassin revenge franchise wouldn’t have happened without Eva Longoria. During the film’s production, she was a benefactor who contributed a crucial investment of $6 million to make the first movie possible.
10 years ago when director Chad Stahelski was in production for the very first John Wick movie, he recalled that they were a few million dollars short of financing. The report came from an interview with Business Insider. Stahelski said they sorely needed more independent funds to roll the film out. This was what happened according to the John Wick director per Variety:
“We were less than a week out and we lost almost $6 million on a gap financing. We were financing independently to get the bond, but one of the investors couldn’t raise the money in time.
[Eva] came to the rescue and she provided the gap financing, literally less than 24 hours before we had to lock the doors on the movie and walk away.
Basil took us out to dinner [after filming], and we were laughing about all the bullshit that happened, and he said, ‘By the way, funny story, you know who gap financed you? Eva Longoria.’ We were like, ‘What!'”
Everyone involved believed in the project, and even Keanu Reeves himself contributed his own money to help with costs. Producer Basil Iwanyk even maxed out three of his personal credit cards to add more funds to John Wick.
They had an upcoming “last-ditch” financial help from the CAA (Creative Arts Agency), but that wouldn’t have made it in time. So, in fact, Eva Longoria’s $6 million saved John Wick at a critical time during its production.
Stahelski and his co-director for John Wick, David Leitch afterward took Longoria out to lunch at the Chateau Marmont as formal gratitude. According to the John Wick directors, she saved John Wick. Longoria made it possible for the franchise to thrive further into a billion-dollar action franchise. John Wick now has four films under its belt and more upcoming sequels and spin-offs.
Funny enough, Longoria admitted to Stahelski that she didn’t think John Wick was going to work. Later on, director David Leitch would recall that Longoria said to him that the $6 million she gave to John Wick was the best money she ever spent.
