Actress Eva Longoria rescued the production of the famous film franchise John Wick when it was about to close for good.
In the middle of the shot John WickThe first film in the series starring Keanu Reeves, the production ran out of money. Up went Longoria 6 million dollars in financing He received a guarantee that he would be among the first investors to pay in exchange, according to to Business Insider.
The story is told by the film’s directors, Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, who found out as they were wrapping up production that there was a $6 million shortfall in the budget. At this point, producer Basil Iwany began looking for someone who could cover his financial hole until the film was completed. CAA, the powerhouse talent agency that was raising funding, approached some A-list clients. The deal eventually made its way to Longoria.
“He came to the rescue and provided the gap funding,” Stahelski said Business Insider.
At the time, the movie was 24 hours away from being completely closed, according to Stahelski. Iwany “limited all three of his credit cards,” and both the directors and Reeves “put everything on the line” to finance the film before Longoria’s eleventh-hour financing.
The investment almost certainly paid off for Longoria. While the exact details of his deal are not known, John Wick It grossed $87 million at the worldwide box office. The entire franchise—which began with the story of Reeves as a retired thug seeking revenge for the brutal murder of his dog—includes three sequels to the original and has grossed more than $1 billion worldwide.
“Last year during awards season, I ran into him twice at Academy events, and we were reminiscing,” Lietch said. TWO. “He was like, ‘Wow, that was the best money I ever spent.'” It paid off handsomely for him.”
Lietch and Stahelski didn’t find out until they were done filming that their mysterious financier/savior was Longoria. “Basil took us out to dinner,” Stahelski said, “and we were laughing about all the bull, as it happened, and he said, ‘By the way, funny story, you know who funded your gap? Eva Longoria.'” What! ‘
