• Eva Longoria saved “John Wick” by providing crucial last-minute stopgap funding.
• The film fell into financial crisis and was in danger of being canceled before Longoria's intervention.
• Longoria's investment paid off when “John Wick” became a box office success.

“John Wick” is now considered a modern action classic. As it turns out, Eva Longoria played a big role in making this happen.

A decade ago, as directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch were putting the finishing touches on Keanu Reeves' revenge film, they received news no filmmaker wanted to hear: the production had run out of money.

“We were out for less than a week and lost almost $6 million due to gap financing,” Stahelski told Business Insider in an interview to mark the film's 10th anniversary. “We funded independently to get the bond, but one of the investors couldn’t raise the money in time.”

By this point, Stahelski, Leitch and Reeves had put their own money into the film – producer Basil Iwanyk had even maxed out three credit cards. It seemed like “John Wick” would never see the light of day.

But behind the scenes, someone threw a Hail Mary. CAA, which put together the financing, offered some of its actors who had financial resources the opportunity to invest, Leitch told BI. It promised that they would be the first to get the money back.

Eva Longoria answered the call and John Wick became her first major producer.

Since becoming a household name on the hit 2000s TV series “Desperate Housewives,” Longoria has branched out into her production company, UnbeliEVAble Entertainment, which she founded in 2005 (it was acquired in 2023 by Hyphenate Media Group, which Longoria co-founded). developed into a manufacturing power). ). She has since produced the Lifetime series “Devious Maids,” which ran from 2013 to 2016; the 2015 NBC series “Telenovela”; and the 2019 ABC series “Grand Hotel.”

“She came to the rescue and provided the gap financing literally less than 24 hours before we had to lock the doors on the film and walk away,” Stahelski said, adding that producer Iwanyk never revealed who came away with the money until ” John Wick” became a hit.

“Basil invited us to dinner and we laughed at all the crap that happened and he said, 'By the way, funny story, do you know who funded you? Eva Longoria.' We said, 'What!'” Stahelski said.

Stahelski and Leitch had never met Longoria and went to lunch with her at Chateau Marmont.

“She laughed and said, 'I didn't think it would work,'” Stahelski said.

When Leitch met Longoria at an event last year, they couldn't help but talk about “John Wick.”

“We’re reminiscing,” he said. “She said, 'Wow, that was the best money I've ever spent.' It clearly paid off for her. (“John Wick” earned more than $86 million worldwide on a $20 million budget.)

Did this open the door for Longoria to hit the big screen in an action film?

“She definitely wants it, she wants to do something,” Leitch said. “I would love to work with her; We’re trying to find something.”

Business Insider reached out to a representative for Longoria for comment but did not receive a response.