Copyright Men's Journal
James Bond director Lee Tamahori has died. He was 75. Tamahori’s family confirmed his death in a statement to RNZ, New Zealand’s public service broadcaster. Lee Tamahori Dead at 75 Tamahori, a native of New Zealand, made his debut with the Maori drama Once Were Warriors (1994), a gritty and hyper-violent portrayal of gang culture, before quickly being ushered into Hollywood’s good graces. He is best known for having directed Die Another Day (2002), the final installment in the Pierce Brosnan era of James Bond and one of the most divisive installments in the franchise. Initially thought to be one of the worst Bonds, Die Another Day has, in recent years, been reassessed by certain fans. Tamahori died on Friday at his New Zealand home after a protracted battle with Parkinson’s. “His legacy endures with his whānau (family), his mokopuna (grandchildren), every filmmaker he inspired, every boundary he broke and every story he told with his genius eye and honest heart,” his family’s statement read. Tamahori Directed Several Blockbusters Throughout his career, Tamahori moved between large-scale Hollywood blockbusters and smaller, though no-less-flashy, independent vehicles. In 2001, he directed Morgan Freeman in the James Patterson adaptation Along Came a Spider; and in 2011, he led Dominic Cooper to rave reviews in The Devil’s Double (2011), a fictionalized account of Saddam Hussein’s regime. He also directed The Edge (1997), an action-thriller starring Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin; the sequel xXx: State of the Union (2005); and Next (2007), a time-bending actioner starring Nicolas Cage and Julianne Moore. Fittingly, Tamahori’s last film was another Maori drama, The Convert (2023). The Convert starred Guy Pearce as a British preacher whose arrival within a cloistered Maori community leads to bloodshed.
