Eva Longoria is still raking in the big bucks for a film that’s now a decade old, but there’s catch: she didn’t even star in the production that has since set off a hit film franchise.
It turns out the actress — who attended an event supporting Kamala Harris in Arizona on Sunday — invested in John Wick (2014), starring Keanu Reeves in the title role, at a time when it was just 24 hours away from being shut down due to a $6 million financing gap.
Despite little knowledge of the business world, Longoria stepped in and closed that gap with a $6 million investment, which earned her a producer credit and saved the film and the jobs of its cast and crew.
‘That is accurate,’ the the Corpus Christi, Texas native confirmed to Business Insider when she was asked if she had stepped in to resuscitate the troubled production. ‘By the way, I was in my infancy.’
She confessed: ‘My bankroll was very new, and it was a lot of money, and I was like, “So how does it work?” I had no idea.’
Eva Longoria, 49, revealed she’s still getting checks after investing in John Wick (2014), despite having little business acumen, and thus saving the production from being shut down due to a lack of funding
‘My bankroll was very new, and it was a lot of money, and I was like, “So how does it work?’ I had no idea,’ she confessed about her personal finances at the time she was investing in John Wick , which was likely in 2013
Longoria, 49, admitted the idea of investing in the original John Wick film didn’t come from her or anyone from her financial network.
‘I would love to say I was an investment genius and I just knew and I calculated my risk. No, none of that. An agent, and he wasn’t even my agent, he called me and said, “You got money, you should put your money here,”‘she revealed.
Despite being a professional actress since 1999 she had little knowledge of the behind-the-scenes financing and budgeting of a film.
‘I didn’t even know how a movie was made,’ she readily admitted. ‘I was like, “What do you mean gap financing?” But something that I’ve learned, looking back, I love investing in people,’ she explained.
‘You can tell me you’re opening a chicken farm, but if you’re f**king passionate about it and you’ve done the work and know the market, I mean, [director Chad Stahelski and producer David Leitch] did their work.’
She added, ‘They put in their 10,000 hours as stunt guys and second unit directors; they had seen all the bad movies and knew how to make a good one. It was that. They were undeniably passionate and I knew they were going to make an undeniable product.’
Longoria then confirmed she’s still making money from her investment more than a decade ago.
And while she doesn’t know the exact amount of money she has made for that $6 million investment she made for the film, she does have a rough estimate.
Longoria said an agent turned her on to the investment in the film, and the agent wasn’t even someone she was working with at the time
Longoria estimated she made more than $12 million — or double her investment — on John Wick; she’s pictured arriving last week at Daily Mail offices in NYC to chats about her new book My Mexican Kitchen
Since premiering last year, John Wick: Chapter 4 has grossed a whopping $440M against a budget of about $100M in the US, continuing the trend of increasing grosses for each film
‘You know, I would have to check,’ she said, before adding, ‘More than double [$6 million], for sure,’ which would translate to $12 million paid out to date.
‘Yes. What I’m pissed off about is I wasn’t connected to the rest of them. This was a one-time thing,’ the actress and entrepreneur shared. ‘That was the gamble. But that was my only mistake, not being attached to all of the films.’
Directed by Chad Stahelski from a screenplay by Derek Kolstad, the original release also starred Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Adrianne Palicki, Bridget Moynahan, Dean Winters, Ian McShane, John Leguizamo and Willem Dafoe.
John Wick went on to become a hit at the worldwide box office, grossing $86 million against a budget of $20–30 million.
That profits were good enough for the team to reassemble for a sequel with an even bigger budget.
In the franchise, Reeves plays the title role of John Wick, a retired hitman who’s built up a legendary reputation in the criminal underworld and is pulled back into the violent life against his will.
Stahelski and Kolstad teamed up again for the first sequel three years later, with Moynahan, Leguizamo and McShane reprising their roles, along with new cast members Common, Laurence Fishburne, Ruby Rose, Lance Reddick, Peter Stormare and Franco Nero.
John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017) ended up doing even better at the box office, raking in $171.5 million from a budget of about $40 million.
Stahelski returned to the director’s chair for John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019), this time working from a screenplay by Kolstad, Shay Hatten, Chris Collins and Marc Abrams.
Among the new cast members for the third round were Halle Berry, Mark Dacascos, Anjelica Huston and Asia Kate Dillon.
Following the trend of the first two movies, Chapter 3 topped both of the previous installments at the box office, earning a whopping $327.3 million against a budget of $75 million.
Keanu Reeves attended the John Wick 10th Anniversary Fathom Screening Q&A at AMC Century City 15 on November 3 in Los Angeles on Sunday
The star of the franchise attended the panel discussion with producers Erica Lee and Jason Constantine, costar Ian McShane and director Chad Stahelsk
Reeves returned for the latest in the franchise alongside such cast regulars as Ian McShane (Winston), Lance Reddick (Charon) and Laurence Fishburne (Bowery King).
Sadly, Reddick passed away at the age of 60, just one week before the US premiere of the fourth installment. His death was eventually attributed to coronary artery disease and atherosclerotic heart disease.
Since premiering on March 24 in the States, John Wick: Chapter 4 has grossed a whopping $440 million against a budget of about $100 million.
In recognition of the 10th anniversary of the original, Reeves attended the John Wick 10th Anniversary Fathom Screening Q&A at AMC Century City 15 on Sunday in Los Angeles, with producers Erica Lee and Jason Constantine, costar Ian McShane and director Chad Stahelski.
