‘John Wick’ Directors Reveal First Film Only Exists Thanks To Last-Minute Funding From ‘Desperate Housewives’ Star Eva Longoria
Eva Longoria isn’t the name most John Wick fans associate with the famous action franchise, but according to a new report, it appears that while Keanu Reeves is the face of the fan-favorite film series, the Desperate Housewives star is its Guardian Angel.
Famous for reviving Keanu Reeves’ career and interest in the genre as a whole, John Wick is a true masterpiece of action cinema, per the film’s debut directorial team of David Leitch and Chad Stahelski, it would not have ever come to fruition had Longoria not made what would go on to become one of the most significant film investments of the 21st century.
Speaking to Business Insider in honor of the film’ 10th anniversary ,Leitch and Stahelski (who both made their directorial debut with the 2014 blockbuster, though only Stahelski got the credit due to Director’s Guild of America’s regulations), revealed that although the film’s didn’t require a particularly excessive budget, its purse eventually did run dry just short of the finish line.
“We were less than a week out and we lost almost $6 million on a gap financing,” detailed Stahelski. “We were financing independently to get the bond, but one of the investors couldn’t raise the money in time. Me, Keanu, and Dave had deferred, Basil had maxed his three credit cards, we all had put in everything, including Keanu. And we were still short. So we were shut down.”
Leitch then noted, “[Creative Artist’s Agency], which was putting the financing together, they offered the opportunity to some actors who had some bankroll [telling them] ‘You’ll be first out of this waterfall, you’ll get your money back then X amount.’ Eva was like, “Cool!””
“She came to the rescue and she provided the gap financing,” continued Stahelski. “We didn’t know any of this. [John Wick producer] Basil [Iwanyk” never told Keanu or us. Literally less than 24 hours before we had to lock the doors on the movie and walk away, Basil said, ‘We’ve got the investor, we’ve locked the gap.'”
To this end, the director noted that while news of Longoria’s involvement was withheld during production, he and Leitch “found out by the end of the movie”.
“Basil took us out to dinner, 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,'” said Stahelski. “We were were like, ‘What!’ Once the movie got big, Dave and I met Eva. We had never met her before. We took her out to lunch at Chateau Marmont and she was laughing going, ‘I didn’t think it was going to work.’
Drawing this particular anecdote to a close, Leitch ultimately recalled, “During the award season last year, I ran into her on two different occasions at Academy events, and we were reminiscing. She was like, ‘Wow, that was the best money I’ve ever spent.’ It paid back significantly for her.”
At the end of the day, Longoria’s investment represented a massive leap of faith on behalf of the actress, as at the time, the industry wasn’t very receptive to films by first-time directors. So much so that, as described earlier in the interview, thanks to poor test screenings, Iwanyk even struggled to secure a theatrical distributor for John Wick, with the film’s massively positive reception during Fantastic Fest 2014 being the only thing that saved it from a direct-to-video release.
But thanks to Longoria’s help, John Wick eventually went on to gross $86 million against a reported $20-$30 million budget – a modest return on a modest investment. It also helped transform the action genre with its eccentric ‘Gun-Fu’ cinematic style and established the groundwork for a franchise that is now estimated to be worth over $1 billion (“The best money I’ve ever spent” indeed).
The details of the terms under which Longoria invested in John Wick are still unclear, but the franchise clearly owes her a big debt – and one that Letch is more than happy to repay should the actress come calling.
Asked by Buisness Insider if her involvement in John Wick had “opened the door” for Longoria to star in an action movie, Leitch declared, “She wants to for sure, she wants to do action. I would love to work with her, we’re trying to find something.”
In light of his comments, perhaps there’s a possibility that Longoria could be checking into The Continental sometime in the future.
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