The Brutalist’s Brady Corbet Says He’s “Made Zero Dollars” From His Last Two Films

Although he now has Golden Globe and BAFTA awards under his belt, Brady Corbet also has a bank account that didn’t see a change from his making of The Brutalist. In an interview on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast, Corbet said that he has made approximately “zero dollars” from his recently Oscar-nominated film, which received 10 nods and stars Adrien Brody as a Hungarian architect post–WW II.

The 36-year-old director shared with Maron that he recently directed a number of commercials in order to make money. “I just directed three advertisements in Portugal,” Corbet told Maron. “It’s the first time that I had made any money, really, in years.” It was then that Corbet revealed that he and his partner, Brutalist cowriter and producer Mona Fastvold, “made zero dollars on the last two films that we made.” Maron initially pushed back on Corbet’s claim. “Yes, actually zero,” the filmmaker clarified. “We had to, you know, just sort of live off of a paycheck from three years ago.”

In 2018, Corbet and Fastvold collaborated on the musical drama film Vox Lux, which starred Natalie Portman and grossed $727,000 domestically; it’s $717,000 international haul brought its worldwide total to about $1.4 million. Their next feature film, The Brutalist, was independently financed and made with a relatively small budget of less than $10 million. According to The Guardian, the film has made approximately $14.6 million at the domestic box office and $16.6 million internationally, bringing its earnings to a grand total of $31.1 million.

Despite The Brutalist more than recouping its budget and earning many accolades, Corbet has had to take on side gigs for money, which has been difficult in the midst of the “six-month interrogation” that is awards season, he said. “It’s seven days a week,” he explained. “It’s boundless. It’s constant travel, but you’re also working Saturdays and Sundays. I haven’t had a day off since the Christmas break, and that was also only four days.”

And he insisted that he’s not the only high-profile director to have this problem. “I’ve spoken to many filmmakers that have films that are nominated this year that can’t pay their rent,” Corbet said. “You’re not paid to be promoting a film.”

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