did the Lone Ranger flop derail Verbinski's career

Sticking with the train analogy for a second, Verbinski was going full steam ahead till he went off the rails with the Lone Ranger. Hollywood is a fickle place, they will wine and dine you if you make money for them but woe to the man who loses money.

Verbinski had a breakthrough hit with " The Ring " and further showed a golden touch with Movie audiences, Pirates of the Caribbean was an eye popping hit , and both a financial and commercial success, the movie had a light deft touch, that balanced humor with thrill in the best Errol Flynn Robin Hood fashion, the subsequent sequels though not as well received with critics were incredible mega hits..
Verbinski was given the keys to the kingdom and he jumped right into the Lone Ranger, all Hollywood wondered if the Midas touch could continue and Hollywood being the cathouse that it is found a bit of delight in the colossal wreck that the Movie left in its wake.
Its amazing how one failure trumps three giants successes, but thats the way the Film Industry is. Walt Disney and Jerry Buckingham do not take losing money lightly, and eccentrics can be forgiven a winner, but in America losers get no respect.
Disney threw a 150 million dollars worth of Marketing at this disaster, and still the word of mouth killed it, the worst part is that many of the excesses apparent in last Pirates movie is seen in The Ranger, a movie that goes on for too long, a convoluted plot and worst of all -Budget overruns, the last pirates movie was the most expensive film ever made , and the lone Ranger wasn't too far behind. Mr Verbinski is going to have to rework his way up the ladder before he is ever trusted with a big budget again, and if he isn't careful his day behind the camera in the big boy chair could be numbered, all eyes will be on his next project, he has a lot of trust to rebuild with both the audience and the big money boys