It’s hard to imagine a world where Keanu Reeves doesn’t play the daring action hero John Wick but the directors have revealed the franchise almost got shut down.
Everything went wrong a week before filming was meant to start for the 2014 movie when an investor was unable to raise $6million (£4.6million) in time.
But just 24 hours before filmmakers Chad Stahelski and David Leitch planned to ‘lock the doors on the movie’ Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria swooped in and casually dropped the hefty paycheck they needed.
Their knight in shining armour arrived after a mad scramble from Chad, David and producer Basil Iwanyk to try and revive the situation by maxing out credit cards and even offering the actors a chance to invest.
Soon enough, the 49-year-old actor picked up the phone and scored her first major producing credit.
‘Basil took us out to dinner, and we were laughing about all the bulls**t that happened, and he said: “By the way, funny story, you know who gap financed you? Eva Longoria.” We were like, “What!”‘ Chad recalled to Business Insider.
Both of them swiftly took the screenstar to Chateau Marmont to profusely thank her for saving the movie (which has since gone on to have three sequels and another on the way).
‘She was laughing, going, “I didn’t think it was going to work”,’ Chad added.
And David added that he reminisced on the wild twist of events with Eva at an event last year.
‘She was like, “Wow, that was the best money I’ve ever spent.” It paid back significantly for her.’
Not only did John Wick earn over $87m (£67m) at the global box office on a $20m($15.4m) budget but the franchise as a whole has earned over a whopping $1billion (£771b) worldwide.
Each film has expanded its reach, with the 2023 installment, John Wick: Chapter 4, grossing over $440m (£339m). And its calibre and influence are comparable to James Bond and Mission Impossible.
That’s not even mentioning the TV miniseries (The Continental), upcoming feature film spinoff (Ballerina), as well as an anime series.
Her business-savvy investment could even land her an action role of her own, as David confirmed they ‘want to find something’ for her to work on.
Eva’s most recent turn as executive producer was on her new Apple TV+ show (for which she was also the lead star), Land of Women, opposite Santiago Cabrera.
As for the John Wick franchise, its unexpected investor is not the only shocking revelation from the filmmakers as they celebrated the 10th anniversary of the original movie,
Elsewhere in the interview, they explained the pivotal opening scene in which the former hitman’s puppy (left behind as his dead wife’s legacy) is ruthlessly killed by a member of the Russian mob almost got cut.
Despite serving as the reason he sets out on his bloody quest for revenge.
According to David they were told it was ‘bad luck’ to kill off the puppy and they would ‘alienate audiences’ while Chad added they even considered ‘an alternative ending revealing that the puppy actually isn’t dead.’
Ultimately, however, Keanu stuck up for them and the now-iconic moment kept its place in cinema history.
In an interview with Hollywood Reporter, former stuntman Chad confirmed John Wick 5 is in development. Although what it will be about remains to be seen as he admitted Chapter 4 had a ‘perfect ending’.
He quipped: ‘John even saved a dog in a full-circle moment. So how do you write a better ending than that?
Before adding: ‘The honest truth is you don’t. You simply don’t. There’s no topping what we did. That’s the end. That’s the deal. That’s what we found closure for.
‘Look, sometimes, we’ll keep things in development. My creative team and I can’t stop thinking about Wick. Sometimes, we’ll use development as an exercise, but is there an opportunity to do [John Wick 5]? Of course, there is, whether it’s for money or for creativity.’