Nakata was born in Okayama, Japan. He is most familiar to Western audiences for his work on Japanese horror films such as Ring (1998), Ring 2 (1999) and Dark Water (2002). Several of these were remade in America as The Ring (2002), Dark Water (2005), and The Ring Two.
Nakata was scheduled to make his English-language debut with True Believers, but later pulled out. He was later offered by DreamWorks to direct the movie The Ring Two (2005), which he accepted, making his English-language debut with a sequel to a remake of his own film.
Nakata made his initial breakthrough into film with Ghost Actress (1996). Although failing to attain any large-scale success, the film was responsible for leading to his directing of Ring.
Other Nakata films include Sleeping Bride (2000); Curse, Death and Spirit; and Chaos (2000). He directed the psychological thriller The Incite Mill which premiered on 16 October 2010 in Japan. He has now completed a Japanese ghost story, Kaidan. Nakata is currently working on Hearn, which is about the life of Lafcadio Hearn who wrote Kwaidan.
