Lee Tamahori, Director Of Die Another Day & xXx: State of the Union, Dies At 75

Lee Tamahori, best known for directing films like Die Another Day, has passed away at the age of 75. The filmmaker was born on June 17, 1950, in New Zealand. Tamahori started out in the entertainment industry as a boom operator and assistant director. He also made commercials and then went on to become a successful director.

Tamahori’s family revealed that the director died on Friday, November 7 after living with Parkinson’s disease. His wife, children and grandchild were with him when he passed away.

They told RNZ in a statement that their beloved family member has a legacy that will endure via the filmmakers he inspired throughout his career, all the stories he was fortunate to be able to tell and “every boundary he broke.”

They called Tamahori a “charismatic leader and fierce creative spirit” who was a huge champion for Māori talent, and somberly concluded that they and the world have lost an “immense creative talent.“

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.

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. We’ve lost an immense creative spirit.

Tamahori has a huge resume in filmmaking, with 1994’s Once Were Warriors being his debut as a full-length film director. The movie received critical acclaim and won multiple film festival awards.

The director started making a name for himself in the entertainment industry through such films as the Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin-starring flick The Edge in 1997, which led to Tamahori joining the James Bond franchise to direct Die Another Day, which was not only the 20th 007 film but also Pierce Brosnan’s final turn as the iconic British agent.

Before that, the actor had starred in GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough.

While Die Another Day has a low score on Rotten Tomatoes, it ended up being Brosnan’s highest-grossing Bond film.

Tamahori followed up Die Another Day by directing a sequel for another spy film franchise, xXx.

After Rob Cohen directed the first movie, Tamahori stepped in to helm xXx: State of the Union with stars Ice Cube and Willem Dafoe.

Other movies he directed include Mulholland Falls, Along Came a Spider, Next, The Devil’s Double and Mahana, the latter of which earned him a Rialto Channel New Zealand Film Award nomination for Best Director. His final released film ended up being The Convert in 2023.

The filmmaker also dabbled in TV, having directed three episodes of The Ray Bradbury Theater, one episode of Billions and one episode of The Sopranos.

As his family noted, Tamahori leaves behind a lasting legacy as a director–and not just from Die Another Day and xXx. Being of Māori descent, he made sure to never forget where he came from by emphasizing Māori talent, which he did with films like Once Were Warriors, The Patriarch and The Convert.