Lee Tamahori, Director of James Bond‘s ‘Die Another Day,’ Dies
Lee Tamahori, the acclaimed New zealand filmmaker โขwho directed โPierce brosnan in his final James Bondโค outing, has died. He was 66. โขNews of his death prompted an outpouring ofโค tributes โคfrom fans and industry โfigures, recognizing a meaningful โloss to the world of cinema.
Tamahori rose to โprominenceโข with his 1994 directorial debut, Onc Wereโ warriors, wich became New Zealand’s highest-grossing film of all timeโ and garnered critical acclaim. This success โpropelled him โฃinto Hollywood, where he helmed a โdiverse range of projects.
He is โperhaps best known for Die Another Day (2002), the 20th film in the James Bond franchise. Starring Brosnan as 007 and halle Berry as the โข”Bond girl” Giacinta “Jinx” Johnson, the film became the sixth highest-grossing movie of that โyear and featured a cameo and theme song by Madonna.
Prior to โBond, Tamahori directed The Edge (1997), featuring โคAnthony Hopkins, andโข Along Came a Spider (2001) with Morgan freeman. His later work included XXX: State of the Union (2005), starring Ice Cube and Willem Dafoe, and The Devil’s โฃDouble โ(2011), a dramatization of Latif Yahia’s experiences asโข a body double for Uday Hussein. His final film, theโค historical dramaโ The Convert, starring Guyโ Pearce and Tioreore โขNgatai-Melbourne, was released in 2022.
Fans quickly took to social media to express their grief.โข “Kiwi Legend R.I.L Lee Tamahori you were an exceptional manโ with your talents much love and condolences to โyour whanau,” one Facebook user wrote. Another commented, “I loved his directorial venture โขlike Die another Day and we were warriors ….RIP.”