John Wick director hopes Eva Longoria ‘made millions’ from timely $6M investment that rescued the first film

John Wick director Chad Stahelski hopes that that Eva Longoria ‘made millions’ after being an angel investor on the original film. 

Longoria, 49, recently shared she invested $6 million in the 2014 movie, and still gets checks, adding that her only regret was not investing in the entire franchise, which has grossed $1 billion.

Stahelski, 56, shared on The Hollywood Reporter’s It Happened in Hollywood podcast that he didn’t know the Desperate Housewives star was the investor until after John Wick — which stars Keanu Reeves — was completed and released.

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‘I hope she got every penny back. I hope she made millions of dollars,’ he said of the star, who recently shared she’s made ‘more than double’ from the investment.

Explaining how it all came about, he shared: ‘About a week before we went to production, we had gap financing. We had an investor fall out for about $6 million. So when you’re [making an] $18 million movie, that kills you.’

‘And we didn’t have any money. So a lot of the crew left. We were losing locations. We were literally 24 hours away from failing.’

John Wick director Chad Stahelski, 56, hopes that that Eva Longoria, 49, ‘made millions’ after being an angel investor on the original film; Eva seen November 19 in LA

‘So between Basil [Iwanyk, the film’s producer], myself, [co-director] Dave [Leitch], Keanu, everybody deferred, wrote checks, everything we had put into it — and still it wasn’t nearly enough,’ he added.

‘And then Basil came to us 48 hours before we had to roll, going, “Hey, I found an investor that’s going to cover the gap.” And we didn’t think twice about it and went right into the movie, only to find out nearly a year later that it was Eva Longoria!’ 

Stahelski said he and Leitch took Eva to lunch at the Chateau Mamont and ‘just couldn’t thank her enough.’

Longoria and Stahelski have laughed about her good instincts over the years.

Longoria and Stahelski have also reflected and shared laughs about her wise investment, with the director sharing how the actress told him, ‘It was an investment and I didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t know what it was. But it told kind of weird and cool.’

Keanu’s salary for the John Wick films was revealed earlier this year.

The first film earned him a base salary between $1 million and $2 million, the second between $2 million and $2.5 million, and the fourth installment earned the Canadian actor a whopping $15 million.

John Wick also kick-started Longoria’s interest in Hollywood investments.

Longoria recently shared she invested $6 million in the 2014 movie, and still get checks to this day; Leading man Keanu Reeves seen in a still from the film 

‘I hope she got every penny back. I hope she made millions of dollars,’ he recently said on the It Happened in Hollywood podcast; Stahelski seen in 2024

Eva invested in the film after funding fell through last minute, with Stahelski admitting ‘We were literally 24 hours away from failing’; she is pictured in October

She told with Business Insider last month she made ‘more than double’ [over $12 million] from the investment, and that her only mistake was ‘not being attached to all of the films’; seen in September

Since then, Longoria launched her own production company, Hyphenate Media Group.

Longoria first admitted her investment in John Wick in an interview with Business Insider last month.

She said she had ‘no idea’ how investments worked, but now, ten years later, she still gets checks for the movie.

Eva admitted her only mistake was not being involved with all the films.

‘What I’m pissed off about is I wasn’t connected to the rest of them. This was a one-time thing. That was the gamble. But that was my only mistake, not being attached to all of the films.’

As for how much she’s made on the movie, the actress admitted, ‘More than double, for sure’, which means her initial investment has yielded over $12 million.

Directed by 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.

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.

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.

The franchise — which spans four movies — has grossed $1 billion worldwide and revitalized Reeves’ career; the actor seen in a still from John Wick 2 

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.

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.

Reeves returned for the latest in the franchise alongside such cast regulars as Ian McShane (Winston), Lance Reddick (Charon) and Laurence Fishburne (Bowery King).

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.