While Brady Corbet continues to claim that he’s “broke,” and that’s despite directing “The Brutalist,” a three-time Oscar winning film, there’s the other end of the spectrum.
For a director, breaking into Hollywood’s “$20 Million Club” is extremely rare. There’s only a handful of filmmakers who command an upfront payday so large that the check alone could bankroll three Sundance darlings.
Peter Jackson set the modern benchmark back in 2005 with “King Kong” — $20M upfront plus a ridiculous 20% of the gross. Christopher Nolan (“Oppenheimer”) and Ridley Scott (“Napoleon”) have kept the tradition alive in recent years. Martin Scorsese walked away with $20M from Netflix for “The Irishman.” Rian Johnson obliterated the ceiling with a reported $100M for his two ‘Knives Out’ sequels. James Cameron? $30M upfront for “Avatar: The Way of Water.” Quentin Tarantino banked $20M from Sony for “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”
Now, add Zach Cregger to that list.
According to THR, the “Barbarian” and “Weapons” filmmaker is set to collect a $20M paycheck to direct a ‘Resident Evil’ reboot for Sony’s Columbia Pictures — an almost unthinkable figure for a director on his third feature.
The kicker? Sony locked Cregger in for that sum back in January 2025, more than seven months before “Weapons” even hit theaters. Which means either the studio saw a rough cut and immediately opened the vault or they decided after “Barbarian” alone that he was the real deal. My money’s on the former.
At this level, a studio isn’t just buying a movie, they’re buying the marketing pull of the director’s name. And after the critical and commercial success of “Weapons,” you can bet Sony will plaster “From Zach Cregger” across every Resident Evil trailer, teaser, and bus ad.
Scorsese. Tarantino. Cameron. Nolan…Cregger?