‘John Wick’ Director Says This A-Listing Actor Saved The Movie With $6 Million Funding – The Boston Courier

“John Wick” followers would possibly need to begin thanking Eva Longoria.

The “Desperate Housewives” star quietly invested thousands and thousands of {dollars} within the motion franchise’s first film, saving “John Wick” from potential oblivion, director Chad Stahelski mentioned in a Business Insider interview printed Monday.

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

He added, “[Longoria] came to the rescue and she provided the gap financing” lower than 24 hours earlier than an important deadline — although producer Basil Iwanyk hadn’t advised him how this windfall arrived.

So Stahelski was blown away when he “found out by the end of the movie” that Longoria, identified for her suburban escapades on ABC’s “Desperate Housewives,” was the one who’d stepped in to assist.

“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,’” Stahelski advised Business Insider, remembering his shock on the information.

Centered on a retired murderer looking for vengeance on gangsters who killed his canine, the primary “John Wick” movie took in over $86 million worldwide towards a $20 million finances, spawning a billion-dollar franchise identified for its stunt work and choreographed fights whereas additional establishing actor Keanu Reeves as an motion hero.

However the film marked simply certainly one of many Hollywood investments for Longoria, who based the manufacturing firm Unbelievable Entertainment in 2005 and has helped produce TV sequence like Lifetime’s “Devious Maids,” NBC’s “Telenovela” and ABC’s “Grand Hotel.”

Following the success of “John Wick,” Stahelski mentioned, “We took her out to lunch at [Los Angeles hot spot] Chateau Marmont and she was laughing going, ‘I didn’t think it was going to work.’” However thankfully for Longoria, it did.

David Leitch, an uncredited co-director on the movie, advised Business Insider that he’d “love to work with” Longoria on one other mission — and is already “trying to find something.”

Learn extra at Business Insider.