Brady Corbet, director of The Brutalist has revealed in a new interview that he’s made “zero dollars” from the acclaimed film.
The Brutalist – which arrived in cinemas last month – has been sweeping the awards circuit this year, most recently winning several awards including Best Director and Best Actor at the BAFTAs.
The architectural epic is also tipped as a major favourite to win Best Picture at the upcoming Oscars next month. Yet despite the film’s acclaim and success, it appears that the film hasn’t raked in any money for its filmmakers.
Appearing on the latest episode of the WTF with Marc Maron podcast, Corbet claimed that The Brutalist – and his previous film 2018’s Vox Lux – have made him and his wife and creative partner Mona Fastvold “zero dollars”, adding that he’s recently “directed three advertisements in Portugal” that mark “the first time that I had made any money in years.”
When asked by host Marc Maron if he was speaking figuratively, Corbet doubled down on his claims: “Actually, zero. We had to just sort of live off of a paycheck from three years ago.”
Corbet went on to claim that the financial burden of making films isn’t unique to him: “I’ve spoken to many filmmakers that have the films that are nominated this year that can’t pay their rent. I mean, that’s a real thing.”
Besides directing a film for months, directors are also expected to participate in the film festivals and awards circuit even if they’re “not paid to be promoting”, said Corbet. “If you look at certain films that premiered in Cannes, that was almost a year ago… I mean, our film premiered in September. So I’ve been doing this for six months. And had zero income because I don’t have any time to go to work. I can’t even take a writing job at the moment.”
The Brutalist is up for 10 awards at the upcoming Oscars early next month. Besides Best Picture, Corbet is nominated for Best Director, while Adrien Brody is nominated for Best Actor – check out the full list of nominations here.
In a glowing five-star review of The Brutalist for NME, Paul Bradshaw wrote: “If it does win anything, The Brutalist will still probably feel like the least plausible Best Picture we’ve had in years. An epic about the literal building blocks of America, sure, and a big historical immigrant story, absolutely, it is deliberately never an easy watch. The unholy union of art and money isn’t meant to be palatable, and obsession never looks pretty if it’s done properly.”
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