Hideo Nakata (中田 秀夫 Nakata Hideo, born July 19, 1961, in Okayama, Japan) is a Japanese film director.
Nakata is most familiar works to Western audiences with horror films such as Ringu (1998), Ringu 2 (1999) and Dark Water (2002). Ringu was later remade in America as The Ring (2002).
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 Ringu.
Other Nakata films include Sleeping Bride (2000); Curse, Death and Spirit; and Chaos (1999). He has now completed a Japanese ghost story, Kaidan. He is currently working on Hearn, which is about the life of Lafcadio Hearn who wrote Kwaidan.
Hideo Nakata is represented by United Talent Agency.
