Did you know that John Wick (2014) would’ve never made it to theaters if producer and Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria hadn’t cut a multimillion-dollar check to keep the production alive? 

“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 told Business Insider. “I would love to say I was an investment genius and I just knew and I calculated my risk. No, none of that.”

Now, over a decade, three sequels, a TV series and a spin-off later, the John Wick franchise is among the most popular of the 21st century. 

And those of us who’ve been obsessed since he set out to avenge the death of his beloved pup in 2014 are gonna find out all the juicy behind-the-scenes info about our favorite black-clad assassin of few words when Wick Is Pain arrives on digital May 9.

If you are a fan of seeing how the cinematic sausage is made, there is a whole slate of making-of docs following mega(lomaniac) directors as they descend into madness in pursuit of greatness, but these 2 are the most jaw-dropping and insightful:

Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse

“We were in the jungle, there were too many of us, we had access to too much money, too much equipment, and little by little we went insane.”

If you thought the stories you’ve read about the making of Megalopolis were off the walls, this doc will put everything into context.

Acclaimed Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola’s slow descent into madness takes center stage in this all-access documentary about the making of the 3-hour war epic Apocalypse Now. 

Shot by his wife, Eleanor, who brought their kids to the Philippines to capture behind-the-scenes footage (including a cameo by four-year-old Sofia Coppola), this revealing documentary exposes the unending turmoil behind the production.

Pretty much everything that could go wrong did. The film was budgeted at $20 million (roughly $113 million in current USD), but once it started going over, Coppola had to put up his own money to keep things afloat. History truly does rhyme.

Then, a few weeks into shooting, Coppola has a dream, comes back to set and fires his lead actor, Harvey Keitel. He then flies to LA, hires Martin Sheen, and returns to the Philippines to reshoot everything. Madness! 

During the shoot, Sheen, a three-pack-a-day smoker at the time, was pushed to his physical and emotional limits, eventually suffering a heart attack while filming in Manila. Doctors ordered a month of recovery, while Coppola worked to keep the incident hidden from studio execs who would have shut the production down.

“I’ve often said that if I had known going in that I’d have to endure what I did, I would’ve passed,” Sheen told Yahoo decades later. “But I have no regrets because it forced me to come to grips with parts of myself that I otherwise may never have embraced. I’m grateful to Francis for that.”

And then there’s Brando, who went full Brando on set. He showed up late, refused the script and characterization, improvised all his lines and insisted on being filmed in shadows to preserve the mystery of his character. 

Somehow, the final product is a masterpiece that cloaks the absolute disaster unfolding behind the scenes. Thanks to Eleanor, who was perhaps the only person capable of capturing the madness up close, we get an unfiltered look at the seemingly endless struggles that plagued the film’s production.

This might be cinematic sacrilege, but I honestly enjoyed this journey behind the scenes more than the actual movie. 

Overnight (Making of the Boondock Saints)

“Ever since I was a kid, I knew that I was not meant to do what other people do. I hope to conquer the world.”

Close your eyes and come back to the year 2000 with me. You’re an edgelord. South Park is the hottest show on TV. You’ve made Fight Club your entire personality. Surge is your favorite soda.

And months after surviving Y2K, first-time filmmaker/musician/bartender Troy Duffy drops a cult classic that has you dreaming of being part of a duo of vigilante fraternal twins with an uber-down-for-the-cause FBI accomplice played by Willem Dafoe. That’s right, I’m talking about the Boondock Saints.

Long before Norman Reedus stole scenes as a motorcycle-riding zombie slayer and years after Sean Patrick Flannery got shunned in the cafeteria for having extraordinary abilities (I should really revisit Powder), the actors played gun-toting Irish twins who would later become the poster children for Hot Topic badassery. 

What you may not know is the incredible story behind this movie, and when I say it left me gobsmacked, I mean it. In fact, I dare you to watch Overnight—the 2003 documentary about Duffy’s rise to fame—and not pause it a few times just to process what you’ve just heard. It’s so unhinged, you’d think it was scripted if it were released in the 2020s.

But no, this is a real person whose worst moments happened to be captured on camera. In a real-life Cinderella story gone wrong, the aspiring musician and full-time bartender was thrust into the Hollywood stratosphere when Miramax’s Harvey Weinstein agreed to buy his script about two killer Bostonian brothers, written while Duffy worked at the bar.

He had never directed a movie, and his band at the time didn’t have a demo(!), but THIS is the deal this dude was offered. Jaw, prepare to meet floor:

• $300,000 for writing the script (and an unknown fee for directing)
• A $15 million budget 
• He and his band, The Brood, would produce the film’s soundtrack (Again, they did not have a demo at the time.)
• Retains final cut and approval of all casting choices (Big-time directors still have to fight for this to this day!)
• Harvey would purchase the bar where Duffy worked, and they’d co-own it together. (EXCUSE ME)

Apparently, money was growing on palm trees in ‘90s Hollywood. My goodness. What a time to be a working-class filmmaking bro from Boston with unshakeable confidence and a devotion to blue-jean overalls. 

With a fiery temper and an ego the size of Saturn, things go south for Duffy with the quickness. Honestly, I’m not sure how anyone whose wildest dreams come true in the most unreal way possible wouldn’t be changed by the world being handed to them on a platter. Your worst traits get blown up, and there is such a thing as too much power. On top of that, he’s a working-class guy trying to maneuver in a world of powerful culture-defining millionaires, so that chip on your shoulder can quickly turn into an Achilles’ heel. 

Moving onto the pièce de résistance of the whole doc: There is a casting segment where Duffy shares his brashest thoughts on a few A-list actors and I was NOT ready: He says he hates Keanu Reeves and will never do a movie with him, calls Ethan Hawke a talentless fool and calls Kenneth Branaugh the c-word after getting sent to his voicemail. 

And there are so many more WTF moments following this, as Duffy’s attitude and explosive temper ultimately collapse his initial deal, and nearly gets him blacklisted from Hollywood. But he is gifted a second chance when another production company offers to finance the movie. We then see him in action on set and watch as his relationships with his day-one friends and brother begin to fray.

Overnight is a riveting and unsettling watch that offers a rare glimpse into the psyche of a first-time filmmaker. Duffy’s story highlights the fragility of fame in Hollywood, where one wrong move (or a dozen) can turn you from a golden boy to an outcast. It’s also a sobering reflection on how power and ambition can ultimately destroy even the most promising of careers.