Action movie lovers have a special reason to thank Eva Longoria for the success of one of the most famous franchises of all time, “John Wick.”
In a recent interview, the producers of the series revealed that the Golden Globe-nominated actress and producer played a pivotal role in financing the first film.
“We were in the last week of production and had a loss of about $6 million,” Chad Stahelski noted in Business Insider. “We had independent funding… and one of the investors couldn’t raise the money in time.”
As CAA was trying to secure the amount, they offered some of their actors the opportunity to invest, with the assurance that they would be the first to get their money back.
“[Eva] came in to save us and literally secured the money in less than 24 hours before we closed the doors on the movie and walked away,” Stahelski continued, who learned about their “secret” savior along with David Leitch from producer Basil Iwanyk.
Despite never having met, they invited her to dinner at Chateau Marmont to thank her.
“She was laughing and saying, ‘I didn’t think it would work,’” Stahelski recalls, while Leitch mentioned that Longoria would later tell him that investing in “John Wick” was “the best money” she had ever spent.
Notably, the 2014 film grossed over $86 million worldwide, while the franchise surpassed $1 billion in theaters last year with its fourth installment.
According to Deadline, the franchise will continue with the new film “From the World of John Wick: Ballerina,” starring Ana de Armas. Directed by Len Wiseman, it is expected in theaters on June 6, 2025.
