Gore Verbinski at the World Premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest. Anaheim, California - 24.06.06

Despite being mauled by many US film critics, the movie broke US box office records this weekend (07-09JUL06), giving Verbinski, Disney studio bosses and the cast and crew of the pirate film reason to celebrate.

But, as the director rushed to finish post-production and editing on time, he feared the film would be one of Hollywood's most expensive failures - and he tentatively planned to give up his career if the film was a disaster at the box office.

He says, "People's jobs are at stake way above me. When Pirates is on the cover of Disney's stock report, it's pretty daunting.

"My overhead is not that high. I'm quite content to be a goat cheese farmer."