Director Tamahori arrested on sex charge
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-02-04 10:23

New Zealand-born director Lee Tamahori, whose films include the James Bond hit "Die Another Day," has been arrested on a sex charge while wearing a woman's dress and a wig, officials said on Friday.

British actress Rosamund Pike (L), New Zealander film director Lee Tamahori (C) and U.S. actress Halle Berry pose for photographers at a news conference promoting their James Bond movie 'Die Another Day' in Tokyo January 28, 2003. [Reuters]

Tamahori, 55, was arrested January 8 in a police sting operation and charged with prostitution and loitering in a public place, City Attorney spokesman Frank Mateljan said.

The filmmaker is accused of offering to perform oral sex on an undercover police officer in exchange for money.

Tamahori had been set to be arraigned on Thursday, but the hearing was postponed until February 24. If convicted of the misdemeanor charges, he faces a maximum of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, Mateljan said.

Tamahori gained notice for directing the 1994 drama "Once Were Warriors," a film set in New Zealand about a family of native Maori whose lives have been plagued by alcohol, drugs and violence. Tamahori's father is Maori.

He followed that film with the 1950s crime drama "Mulholland Falls" and thriller "The Edge," starring Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin.

Tamahori went on to make a splash with 2002's "Die Another Day," which starred Pierce Brosnan as secret agent 007 and Halle Berry as an American agent named Jinx. The movie raked in more than $430 million worldwide.

But his action film "xXx: State of the Union," starring rapper Ice Cube bombed at the box office last year.

Media reports said he was being represented by famed Los Angeles defense attorney Mark Geragos, who has worked for pop singer Michael Jackson and actress Winona Ryder.

Geragos and his associates were not immediately available to confirm those reports.