Gore Verbinski (birthname: Gregor Justin “Gore” Verbinski) is an Oscar-winning American filmmaker who has displayed versatility in both animated and live-action dramas and comedies, launching his filmmaking career as a music video director working with punk rock bands (including Bad Religion) and a commercials director (including the acclaimed, Clio-winning Budweiser ad campaign starring croaking frogs).
Verbinski debuted as a big-screen filmmaker as director of the black comedy and first family film released by DreamWorks Pictures,
Mouse Hunt (1997), starring Nathan Lane, Lee Evans, Maury Chaykin, and Christopher Walken, written by Adam Rifkin, and grossing a robust $125.4 million globally (based on estimated costs).
Verbinski wasthe director of the mega-starring crime comedy,
The Mexican (2001), co-starring
Julia Roberts and
Brad Pitt, with James Gandolfini, Bob Balaban, J.K. Simmons, David Krumholtz, Sherman Augustus, Gene Hackman, and Ernesto Gomez Cruz, and grossed a solid $147.8 million for distributor DreamWorks Pictures (based on estimated costs). Verbinski directed his third commercial hit for DreamWorks Pictures and the first movie in the American-produced remake of the Japanese horror series,
The Ring (2002)—a remake of Hideo Nakata’s 1998 movie and of Koji Suzuki’s 1991 novel—starring Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, David Dorfman, Brian Cox, Jane Alexander and Amber Tamblyn, produced by Walter F. Parkes and Laurie MacDonald, and which earned an excellent $249.3 million worldwide (based on estimated expenses).
Gore Verbinski became the go-to director of the Pirates of the Caribbean series with the breakaway Jerry Bruckheimer-produced hit
The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), starring Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley and Jonathan Pryce, followed by the Pirates of Caribbean sequels
Dead Man’s Chest (2006), with new cast members Stellan Skarsgard,
Bill Nighy and Jack Davenport; and
At World’s End (2007), with new cast members Chow Yun-fat, and grossing a cumulative $2.67 billion for Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. Verbinski took a departure from the Pirates juggernaut to direct the Chicago-based comedy-drama,
The Weather Man (2005), starring
Nicolas Cage, Michael Caine, Hope Davis, Michael Rispoli and Gil Bellows, produced by Todd Black, Steve Tisch and Jason Blumenthal, and which lost money for distributor Paramount Pictures with a $19 million box office (based on estimated costs).
Verbinski won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature and took on his first fully-animated feature as director/co-writer/producer of the Western comedy,
Rango (2011), co-written by John Logan and James Ward Byrkit, with the voices of Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Abigail Breslin, Alfred Molina, Bill Nighy, Harry Dean Stanton, Ray Winstone and Timothy Olyphant, and grossing $246 million worldwide for distributor Paramount Pictures via Nickleodeon Movies, and whose success prompted the creation of Paramount Animation. Verbinski reunited with his Pirates producer Jerry Bruckheimer and continued with his Pirates star Depp as director/producer of his first commercial bomb,
The Lone Ranger (2013), co-starring Armie Hammer, Tom Wilkinson, William Fichtner, Barry Pepper, James Badge Dale and Helena Bonham Carter, delivering a poor $260.5 million for distributor Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (based on its estimated budget).
Gore Verbinski was director/producer/story writer of the psychological horror movie,
A Cure for Wellness (2016), written by Justin Haythe and inspired by Thomas Mann’s 1924 novel, The Magic Mountain, starring Dane DeHaan, Jason Isaacs,
Mia Goth, Harry Groener, Celia Imrie and Adrian Schiller, and which lost money ($26.6 million worldwide) for producers Regency Enterprises/Blind Wink Productions/New Regency Productions and distributor 20th Century Fox. Verbinski was director/producer of the U.S./Germany/South Africa-backed sci-fi comedy set in a future Los Angeles,
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die (2026), starring
Sam Rockwell,
Haley Lu Richardson, Michael Pena,
Zazie Beetz and Juno Temple, launching at Fantastic Fest and released wide by Briarcliff Entertainment (U.S.)/Constantin Film (Germany).