Eva Longoria invested $6 million of her own money to save ‘John Wick’ — and the directors didn’t even know

Keanu Reeves in “John Wick.”

“John Wick” is regarded today as a modern action classic. As it turns out, Eva Longoria played a large part in making that happen.

A decade ago, when directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch were putting the final touches on the Keanu Reeves revenge movie, they received news no filmmaker wants to hear: the production had run out of money.

“We were less than a week out and we lost almost $6 million on a gap financing,” Stahelski told B-17 in an interview celebrating the movie’s tenth anniversary. “We were financing independently to get the bond, but one of the investors couldn’t raise the money in time.”

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

But behind the scenes, someone threw a Hail Mary. CAA, which was putting the financing together, offered some of its actors who had bankroll the opportunity to invest, Leitch explained to B-17. It promised they’d be the first to get paid back.

Eva Longoria.

Eva Longoria answered the call, and “John Wick” became her first major producer credit.

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

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

“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.’ We were were like, ‘What!'” Stahelski said.

Chad Stahelski, David Leitch, and Keanu Reeves at the premiere of “John Wick” in 2014.

Stahelski and Leitch had never met Longoria, so they took her to lunch at the Chateau Marmont.

“She was laughing going, ‘I didn’t think it was going to work,'” Stahelski said.

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

“We were reminiscing,” he said. “She was like, ‘Wow, that was the best money I’ve ever spent.’ It paid back significantly for her.” (“John Wick” went on to earn over $86 million worldwide on a $20 million budget.)

So, has this opened the door for Longoria to go on screen in an action movie?

“She wants to for sure, she wants to do action,” Leitch said. “I would love to work with her, we’re trying to find something.”