Eva Longoria is a woman of many talents: iconic actress, working mother and charitable figure whose Foundation helps Latinas to ‘build better futures for themselves and their families’. But did you know she’s also the reason the John Wick franchise is thriving?
A decade ago, the first instalment of Keanu Reeves’ thrilling, neo-noir revenge saga opened in cinemas.
Despite producer Basil Iwanyk initially struggling to secure theatrical distributors, John Wick eventually went on to exceed initial box office projections by grossing a solid $86 million worldwide.
Since then, there have been three sequels released and next year, fans will be offered the chance to delve back into the cutthroat world with spin-off flick Ballerina.
But Ana de Armas – who is slated to star as Eve Macarro in the upcoming release – may never have had the chance to become a trained assassin if Desperate Housewives’ Longoria, 49, hadn’t stepped in.
According to an interview with Business Insider, John Wick directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch ran into a spot of bother while putting the finishing touches on the first movie.
They were, unfortunately, informed that the production had haemorrhaged money and there was nothing left in the pot to finish the project.
“We were less than a week out, and we lost almost $6 million on a gap financing,” Stahelski, 56, confessed. “We were financing independently to get the bond, but one of the investors couldn’t raise the money in time.”
The publication reports that at this point in the proceedings, both directors had already funnelled their own funds into the movie, while Iwanyk, 54, had maxed out a staggering three credit cards.
John Wick was allegedly almost cancelled due to a lack of funding (Lionsgate)
Out of sheer desperation to get the project over the finish line, the Creative Artists Agency (CAA) offered some of its actors the opportunity to invest in the film, says filmmaker Leitch, 48.
One of the stars who reportedly answered the call was mother-of-one Longoria, whose acting credits include the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless and 2018’s Overboard.
It’s understood the star came to the rescue and ‘provided the gap financing’ less than 24 hours before directors were preparing to ‘lock the doors on the movie and walk away.
But it wasn’t until John Wick became a blockbuster hit that the pair discovered exactly who had gotten them off the ground
“Basil took us out to dinner, and we were laughing about all the b******t that happened, and he said: ‘By the way, funny story, you know who gap financed you? Eva Longoria.’ We were like, ‘What!’” Stahelski recalled.
Eva Longoria has a producer credit on John Wick (Lionsgate)
The pair later claimed that they’d taken the Texas-born legend out for dinner to say thank you for her generosity.
Despite Longoria ‘saving’ the John Wick franchise in 2014, some fans are only just learning about her producer credit now.
Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, one user typed: “Considering the impact of her investment on what became an extremely successful franchise… I hope she’s been paid handsomely.”
A second wrote: “Eva Longoria is a real-life superhero lol can’t believe she swooped in like that to save John Wick!”
“Wow. What a bold move by Eva. Just learned this one today,” commented someone else.
According to Letterboxd, Longoria now has a slew of executive producer credits under her belt, such as 2022’s Unplugging, which she also starred in.
As well as directorial offerings such as Flamin’ Hot and The Civil War: Chavez vs. de la Hoya, the Only Murders in the Building hero is credited as a producer on the upcoming Spanish language series, Call My Agent!
