Although most associate Verbinski with feature films, he started his career directing music videos for bands like Bad Religion and Monster Magnet working at Palomar Pictures. This was not surprising to his friends in LA, since he also played music for an obscure punk band called "The Little Kings," produced by famed underground tattoo artist Marc "Rude" Hoffman. During this period, Verbinski 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. For his efforts in commercials, Verbinski 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 $200 million dollars worldwide.

However his biggest success came with the 2003 surprise hit Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl which earned over $600 million at the international box office and was responsible for reinvigorating Johnny Depp's career.

His next film was The Weather Man which starred Nicolas Cage. The film received mixed to positive reviews but was a box office failure.

In March 2005 he started filming the sequels Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Pirates of the Caribbean 3.

Verbinski graduated with his BFA in Film from UCLA in 1987.