Legendary New Zealand filmmaker Lee Tamahori has passed away at the age of 75.
His family confirmed the news in a statement to Radio New Zealand, revealing that he died “peacefully at home”. following a battle with Parkinson’s disease.
His family added: “His legacy endures with his whānau [family], his mokopuna [grandchild], every film‑maker 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… We’ve lost an immense creative spirit.”
Lee Tamahori's Career
Born Warren Lee Tamahori in Wellington in 1950 to Māori and British ancestry, he made his way through the Australian and New Zealand film industries of the 1970s and 80s.
He cut his teeth working with Geoff Murphy on films like Goodbye Pork Pie and The Quiet Earth, and served as first assistant director for Nagisa Oshima’s international production Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence.
Lee Tamahori has passed away. Credit: Leon Bennett / Getty
Tamahori’s directorial debut feature came with Once Were Warriors, a raw drama about a Māori family battling brutality in Auckland. Upon its 1994 release, the film became New Zealand’s highest‑grossing film, and went on to make an international impact.
That breakout success earned Tamahori a Hollywood look. He followed up with the period noir Mulholland Falls (starring Nick Nolte and Chazz Palminteri), then directed the survival thriller The Edge with Anthony Hopkins, and the thriller Along Came a Spider starring Morgan Freeman.
Tamahori was a champion of Māori culture. Credit: Mehmet Kaman/Anadolu Agency/Getty
Tamahori's Work on Bond
His most high‑profile job came in 2002 with the Die Another Day entry in the James Bond franchise — marking the final outing for Pierce Brosnan as 007, per Deadline.
The film, infamous for its invisible car and Halle Berry’s orange bikini, was a commercial hit, though critics were less than uniformly impressed.
Tamahori himself acknowledged the changing times, noting that the rise of the Bourne franchise had made the Brosnan era “look a little old‑fashioned”.
He then tackled XXX: State of the Union (with Ice Cube) after Vin Diesel bowed out of the sequel, followed by the sci‑fi thriller Next starring Nicolas Cage and the political fable The Devil’s Double (featuring Dominic Cooper portraying both Uday Hussein and his body‑double).
Tamahori directed Die Another Day. Credit: Tim Graham / Getty
Return to Roots with Māori Stories
Eventually, Tamahori returned to his homeland, directing Mahana, adapted from Witi Ihimaera’s novel Bulibasha: King of the Gypsies.
This time, he cast his Once Were Warriors lead actor, Temuera Morrison, and described it as “a western, specifically a 1950s American western”.
He acknowledged its poor box‑office performance in New Zealand: “It’s a period film about a bygone era and it deals with the older generation, so young people didn’t go and see it.”
Later in 2024 he released The Convert, starring Guy Pearce as a British missionary working with Māori locals.