If, like us, you watched Die Another Day and wondered why parts of it looked so rubbish, maybe we’ve found the answer – the director, Lee Tamahori, may have had his mind somewhere else.

Was Lee Tamahori planning a new film instead of making sure that the Die Another Day computer animation didn’t look crappy? Maybe. Was he preoccupied with budget calculations instead of trying not to rip off The Matrix in every scene? Perhaps. But it might be closer to the truth to imagine that Tamahori was thinking about dressing up as a woman and offering to sell sex to a policeman. That’s what he’s just been arrested for, anyway.

Up until recently, the worst thing about the James Bond films was
the staggering lack of a cast for Casino Royale, but things have
apparently got a little worse for the director of Die Another Day, the
last Bond movie.

According to the BBC, Lee Tamahori (DVDs) – the New
Zealand-born director of Die Another Die, xXx: State Of The Union and
Mulholland Falls – was arrested in Hollywood for allegedly approaching
an undercover police officer and offering to perform a sex act for
cash. While dressed in a natty black wig and a lovely frock.

Lee has been charged with soliciting an act of prostitution and
loitering with the intent to commit prostitution, after being caught in
an LAPD prostitution sting. And you though the biggest of his worries
was having to make a sensible film about an invisible car. Jason Lee of the Los
Angeles Police Department, said:

"Mr Tamahori was arrested for soliciting. I can confirm he was dressed in women’s clothing at the time of the arrest."

Lee Tamahori faces a
maximum sentence of six months jail and a $1,000 fine if he is found
guilty of his charges. He is currently free on bail, and his case comes
up in court on February 24.

Still, given the choice between
dressing up as a lady and offering to suck off policemen for a handful
of coins or trying to make an xXx movie -
we’d head for the wig draw, too.

Read more:

Bond director ‘tried to sell sex’ - BBC

[story by Stuart Heritage]