Gore Verbinski

GORE VERBINSKI

Date of Birth: March 16, 1964

After graduating from UCLA in 1987 with a B.A. in Motion Pictures & Television, Verbinski started his career directing music videos for bands like Bad Religion and Monster Magnet. He moved from music videos to commercials, where he worked for many brand names including Nike, Coca-Cola, Canon, Skittles and United Airlines.

One of his most famous commercials was for Budweiser, featuring frogs who croak the brand name and try to catch the passing Bud truck with their tongue. For his efforts in commercials, Vervinsi won four Clio awards and one Cannes advertising Silver Lion.

After completing a short film, The Ritual (which he both wrote and directed), Verbinski made his feature film directing debut with the kids' comedy flick, Mouse Hunt. The film was a hit globally and he soon followed up the success with the action/comedy The Mexican, starring Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt. Unfortunately, despite the star power, the film was a flop both with critics and at the box office, but Verbinski followed it up with the horror film The Ring (2002), which grossed well over $100 million at the domestic box office.

However, his Pirates of the Caribbean films have not only done extremely well at the box office but have received much critical acclaim. The first one, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), received five Oscar nominations and earned over $300 million at the domestic box office alone. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) received four Oscar nominations, winning for Best Achievement in Visual Effects and grossed over $420 million at the domestic box office. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) received two Oscar nods and two People's Choice Awards, for Favorite Movie and Favorite Threequel.

He then left the Pirates franchise, opting instead to take on the challenge of directing an animated feature, Rango, featuring the voice of Johnny Depp.