Ten years ago, a little revenge movie about an ex-assassin getting vengeance over his murdered puppy came out in theaters by the name of John Wick. It didn’t quite light the world on fire theatrically, but eventually, people learned about this incredible shoot-em-up action movie. Three sequels, a TV series, and an upcoming spinoff later, Keanu Reeves’ character of John Wick in a household name. Not to mention also a billion-dollar franchise. But the whole thing almost didn’t happen, and John Wick was only saved at the eleventh hour by former Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria.
Via Variety, we learned that during an interview with Business Insider, original John Wick creators Chad Stahelski and David Leitch recalled how Longoria put up $6 million to close an unexpected gap in the film’s funding. The overall budget for the original John Wick was somewhere between $20 and $30 million. Longoria invested the $6 million that remained with less than 24 hours to go before filming on John Wick began. She ended up being the guardian angel of the project. If she had not provided the money, production would have surely shut down.
That first John Wick film went on to gross $86 million, a decent return on investment for Longoria and co. It, of course, launched a franchise as well. Stahelski and Leitch eventually took Longoria out to lunch to thank her for her last-minute save of John Wick. But it turns out that for a long time, they didn’t know they had Longoria to thank for the franchise. In the documentary, Wick is Pain, the duo delve into the story, and director Chad Stahelski also shared a little bit more with ComicBook.com. He noted, “Dave [Leitch] and I didn’t know anything about her until after we wrapped — until after the movie came out. Then [producer] Basil [Iwanyk] told us, ‘Hey, by the way, you guys have a lunch scheduled with Eva,’ and we’re like, ‘Oh, that’s great. We’d love to meet her, great, why does she want to meet us?’ He’s like, ‘No, no, no — you’re going to buy her lunch and say thanks for that.’”
Stahelski “We’re like, ‘Well, back up, what?’” Stahelski went on. “Like, no one had told us, so we didn’t know until much, much later in the game. He’s like, ‘Through her investments, and she wanted to invest in filmmakers and stuff.’ When Dave and I got to the lunch, it was still very fresh in our minds, we had only been told the day or two before. So, we got there and we sat down for lunch, and we’re like, ‘Look, we haven’t met before, but we don’t even know what to say,’ we were very embarrassed.”
Stahelsk continues, “We were like, ‘I wish someone would have told [us],’ if someone had told us the first day, I have no doubt Dave and I would have jumped on a plane from New York, flown back to L.A., and mowed her lawn… We were too starstruck and thankful, we were not very cool at all. We’re just like, ‘We can’t thank you enough,’ we were almost in tears, and she was really cool, she was like, ‘No no.’”
Leitch said that Longoria would later tell him that investing in the film was “The best money she’d ever spent.” Considering how huge the franchise has become, we bet she’s not lying. So, as a thank you, will they ever put Longoria in a John Wick project? Leitch said “She wants to for sure, she wants to do action. I would love to work with her; we’re trying to find something.” Here’s hoping Eva checks into the Continental Hotel before too long.
Originally published on October 24, 2024.