Eva Longoria reportedly saved “John Wick” with a $6 million investment

Without Eva Longoria's financial intervention, “John Wick” may never have become a billion-dollar film franchise, the original film's directors revealed this week.

In an interview with Business Insider to mark the film's 10th anniversary, Chad Stahelski and David Leitch – who co-directed, although only Leitch received a credit – said the Keanu Reeves action film is just days away from production , to stop production due to lack of financing.

“We were out for less than a week and lost almost $6 million due to gap funding,” Stahelski told the publication. “We all put everything into it, including Keanu. And we still missed it. So we were shut down.”

In a last-ditch attempt to save the production, CAA offered some of its actors the opportunity to finance the remaining $6 million, with the promise that they would be the first to get the money back once the film was released in theaters.

CAA reportedly seized the opportunity, although Leitch and Stahelski were unaware of it at the time.

“She came to the rescue and provided the gap funding,” Stahelski said. “Literally less than 24 hours before we had to lock the doors on the film and walk away, (our producer) said 'We've got the investor, we've closed the gap.'”

After the film's box office success—it grossed $86 million on an estimated budget of $20 million to $30 million—the directors invited Longoria to lunch in Los Angeles as a thank you.

Leitch said he met the actress at awards season events last year and the two recalled her financial intervention.

“She said, 'Wow, that was the best money I've ever spent,'” he said. “It clearly paid off for them.”

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