Lee Tamahori, the filmmaker known for directing “Once We Were Warriors” and the 2002 James Bond film “Die Another Day,” has died at the age of 75.
Tamahori’s family shared that he died at home surrounded by his loved ones after a battle with Parkinson’s disease. “His legacy endures with his whānau, his mokopuna, every filmmaker he inspired, every boundary he broke and every story he told with his genius eye and honest heart. A charismatic leader and fierce creative spirit, Lee championed Māori talent both on and off screen,” his family said in a statement to New Zealand broadcaster RNZ on Friday.
Born in Wellington, New Zealand, in 1950, Tamahori was of Māori ancestry on his father’s side and British ancestry from his mother. He grew up in a Wellington suburb called Tawa and first began working in the film industry in the late 1970s as a boom operator and later assistant director. In 1986, he co-founded the Flying Fish production company and made a name for himself directing television commercials and advertisements.
In 1994, Tamahori made his feature filmmaking debut with the violent, bleak Māori film “Once We Were Warriors.” The film received rave reviews at the time of its release and effectively launched Tamahori’s Hollywood career.
Stateside, he went on to direct star-driven Hollywood films like “Mulholland Falls,” “The Edge” and “Along Came a Spider.” In 2002, he directed “Die Another Day,” which wound up being Pierce Brosnan’s fourth and final James Bond film and also inspired a Madonna tie-in music video directed by Swedish directors Mats Lindberg, Pontus Löwenhielm and Ole Sanders.
Tamahori’s subsequent films included 2005’s “xXx: State of the Union,” 2007’s “Next” and 2011’s “The Devil’s Double.” In 2016, he returned to New Zealand to direct “The Patriarch.” That film reunited Tamahori with actor Temuera Morrison, who also starred in “Once We Were Warriors.”
His last film was the 2023 historical drama “The Convert,” which starred Guy Pearce as a British lay preacher who finds himself caught in the middle of a bloody war between feuding Māori tribes.
“He ultimately returned home to tell stories grounded in whakapapa and identity, with ‘Mahana’ and his latest film ‘The Convert,’ reaffirming his deep connection to Aotearoa,” his family’s statement concluded. “We’ve lost an immense creative spirit.” Tamahori is survived by his partner Justine, children Sam, Max, Meka and Tané, as well as daughter-in-laws Casey and Meri and his grandchild Cora Lee.
