LAS VEGAS — Having found gold with his "Pirates of the Caribbean" trilogy of films, Gore Verbinski is now sailing into the world of video games.
The 43-year-old director had enjoyed video games since the days of "Pong," but he stopped playing during a directorial frenzy of five movies in seven years.
After wrapping up "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," which has raked in an estimated $961 million in global box-office receipts, Verbinski emerged to find that his old pastime had changed dramatically.
Crude graphics had given way to opulent scenes rivaling the special effects in his films. Bleeps and simple theme music had turned into fully orchestrated scores.
His Rip Van Winkle moment led him to run out and buy the three latest game consoles and dive into as many games as he could.
Those include shoot 'em ups such as "Halo 3" and "Gears of War" as well as "Beautiful Katamari," a loopy puzzle game in which players roll magic spheres that gather up strewed junk until they snowball into the size of planets.
Now he's developing a secret project that would let him apply his creative vision to the games business. Verbinski won't reveal any details, saying he's still in the early stages of fleshing out his ideas.
Video games have long lured Hollywood auteurs with their siren song of interactive storytelling.
George Lucas in 1982 built his own game studio, LucasArts, which continues to make games.
The Wachowski brothers, who directed "The Matrix" movies, also released games under that franchise.
And Steven Spielberg, working with Electronic Arts Inc., is scheduled to release a puzzle game, "Boom Blox," this year.
Verbinski, who for more than a year has harbored ambitions to make his own game, recently spoke with The Times at the D.I.C.E. Summit, where he delivered the keynote speech and toasted the industry's top developers. What brings you here?
I've got something in mind that I've had for about a year. I didn't want to jump into gaming from the executive level. I really want to sort of engage on a creative level.
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What can you tell us about your project?
It's a little bit out there. Although I really enjoy "Halo" and "BioShock," I'm not interested in jumping in to compete with those guys. I want to come in from a completely different direction. I've had a tremendous experience in the film industry, taking knocks and figuring out how to navigate that world. Before I assume I know how to navigate this one, I want to observe.
