Alexander Payne

13 films directed

Biography

Alexander Payne (born February 10, 1961) is an Oscar-winning filmmaker whose work has helped define modern-day American cinema. He is best known for the features Election (1999), Sideways (2004), The Descendants (2011), About Schmidt (2002), Nebraska (2013) and The Holdovers (2023). His movies have garnered a total of 24 Academy Award nominations, including four times for Best Picture and three times for Best Director. He has won two Oscars for Best Adapted Screenplay (Sideways, The Descendants), and two of his films have won the Golden Globe for Best Picture. His most recent film, The Holdovers, earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Da’Vine Joy Randolph. Five of his movies were shot at least partially in Nebraska, where he continues to live, dividing his time between there and Los Angeles. An Omaha native, Payne studied History and Spanish Literature at Stanford before earning an MFA in Film at UCLA. He serves on the boards of the Telluride Film Festival and The Film Foundation.

Most directed genres

Recurring actors

The career in numbers

US$ 200 mi Total budget from 10 film(s) with data
US$ 550 mi Total box office from 9 film(s) with data
US$ 20 mi Average budget from 10 film(s) with data
US$ 61 mi Average box office from 9 film(s) with data
6.8 Average rating from 9 film(s) with data
2.8× Return on investment from 9 film(s) with data

Budget and box office do not exist for every film in our records. Averages are computed over the films that carry the figure, and the count beside each one says how many.

Films directed

Film	Year	Budget	Box office	Rating
The Holdovers	2023	US$ 13 mi	US$ 43 mi	7.6
Downsizing	2017	US$ 68 mi	US$ 55 mi	5.4
Nebraska	2013	US$ 12 mi	US$ 28 mi	7.4
The Descendants	2011	US$ 20 mi	US$ 177 mi	6.8
Paris Je T'aime	2006	US$ 13 mi	US$ 17 mi	6.8
14e Arrondissement	2006	—	—	—
Sideways	2004	US$ 16 mi	US$ 110 mi	7.1
About Schmidt	2002	US$ 30 mi	US$ 106 mi	6.9
Election	1999	US$ 25 mi	US$ 15 mi	6.9
Citizen Ruth	1996	US$ 3 mi	US$ 285,112	6.6
The Passion of Martin	1991	US$ 26,000	—	5.7
Inside Out	1991	—	—	3.7
Carmen	1985	—	—	5.3