The Brutalist director Brady Corbet claims he made no money from the Oscar-nominated film

The Brutalist director Brady Corbet (left) has claimed he's made 'zero dollars' from the film, which stars Adrien Brody (right) as its lead character. Photo / Getty Images

American filmmaker Brady Corbet, who directed the award-winning film The Brutalist, has alleged he’s made no money out of the hit movie, despite the fact it’s leading the 2025 awards season and has pulled more than US$31.3 million ($54.9m) at the box office since its release.

Corbet, 36, claimed he “made zero dollars on the last two films” during an interview with comedian Marc Maron on his podcast WTF with Marc Maron. “Yes, actually zero. We had to just live off of a paycheck from three years ago.”

The acclaimed director revealed work he’d recently finished on three advertisements filmed in Portugal was the first time he’d made money “in years”.

Before shooting The Brutalist, Corbet also directed three episodes of The Crowded Room (2023), short film 30/30 Vision: 3 Decades of Strand Releasing (2022) and musical drama Vox Lux (2018).

Corbet said his finances have been impacted by the prolonged process of creating a film, often followed by a gruelling promotional period, which he is midway through for The Brutalist.

“If you look at certain films that premiered in Cannes, that was almost a year ago. ... I mean, our film premiered in September,” he said.

Adrien Brody as Laszlo Toth from The Brutalist.

“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.”

Corbet added there are “many filmmakers with films nominated this year who can’t pay their rent”, highlighting how such precariousness is not uncommon in the film industry.

However, he noted that profits do tend to make their way back to him – but not till long after its release.

“Everyone gets paid back, like, 17 times over before you make a dollar as its creator – it’s amazing,” he said on Maron’s podcast.

Still, Corbet seemed to hold some regret for taking on the mammoth film – which has a run time of three hours and 35 minutes – given the distraction it was from raising his daughter Ada, 10.

“Years of my life have been eroded as a result of the stress of making the film, of protecting the flame of the film – even though the film has been so impressive, inspirational and even commercially viable, which is kind of amazing,” he told Maron.

Director Brady Corbet has claimed he's made no money from The Brutalist since its release. Photo / IMDB

“I don’t know if eight years of torment is worth four months of success.”

Epic drama The Brutalist was directed, produced and co-written by Corbet. It follows the story of a Hungarian-Jewish architect and Holocaust survivor (Adrien Brody) who emigrates to the United States from post-war Europe in search of a better life.

Since its debut to audiences in September, The Brutalist has emerged as the leading contender in this year’s awards season with 102 wins, according to Rotten Tomatoes.

The only films to come close to The Brutalist‘s success have been Anora and The Substance, tying with 99 awards each so far.

The Brutalist has been nominated for 10 Oscars at this year’s Academy Awards, due to take place on March 11 at 11.30am (NZT).