The Brutalist Director Brady Corbet Reports Earning "Zero Dollars" on the Film

The director of "The Brutalist," Brady Corbet, complained that he earned "zero" dollars on the film. Although the drama about the architect was marked by awards at the BAFTA and Golden Globe awards. The film will also compete for an Oscar. The main role was played by Adrian Brody.

"The Brutalist" was recognized as the best drama at the "Golden Globe"-2025. Brady Corbet at the same time became the best director at the "Golden Globe" and BAFTA-2025. Adrian Brody won in acting awards at both awards. On March 2, the Oscar-2025 award ceremony will take place, where "The Brutalist" has 10 nominations. The film earned $31 million at the global box office with a budget of $6 million and received a warm reception: 94% rating from critics and 80% from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes.

Brady Corbet in the podcast WTF With Marc Maron admitted that he "did not earn a single dollar" on "The Brutalist." The director and his wife and creative partner, Mona Fastvold Lerche, did not receive income from the previous work "Vox Lux" (2018). They live on money from separate advertising projects and early fees:

"I just shot three commercials in Portugal. This is the first time I've made money in years. [...] We earned zero dollars on the last two films."

For the very production, Corbet, of course, should have been paid. However, he was engaged in further promotion for free. Last week (February 10-16), Corbet gave 90 interviews on a "charitable" basis. As Corbet noted, many directors face such a problem:

"Yes. Zero. We just had to live on the salary of three years ago. I talked to many directors whose films were nominated this year. And they cannot pay the rent. It's real. [...] Filmmakers are not paid for promoting films. [...] I have zero income, because [due to press conferences] there was no time to go to work."

The action of "The Brutalist" takes place in 1947. According to the plot, the talented architect Laszlo Tot (Brody) and his wife Erzebet (Felicity Jones) leave post-war Europe and go to America. Laszlo takes on a new project. He starts collaborating with the mysterious rich man Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce). This work completely changes Laszlo's life.