Lomu: New Documentary Film Charts the Life and Legacy of Rugby's Most Famous Wing
A new documentary film about Jonah Lomu — the All Blacks wing who became rugby union's first global superstar — is heading into cinemas this month, despite a legal challenge from his widow.
The film, simply titled Lomu, is directed by Irish film-maker Gavin Fitzgerald and New Zealand-based co-director Vea Mafile'o. Fitzgerald's previous work includes documentaries on Conor McGregor and Liam Gallagher, so he knows his way around larger-than-life subjects. Mafile'o brings a Tongan-New Zealand perspective to a story rooted in Pacific Island heritage: Lomu was the son of Tongan immigrants, raised in South Auckland.
According to The Guardian, Lomu's widow Nadene took legal action in an unsuccessful attempt to block the film and declined to be involved in its production. The reasons behind that dispute have not been made public, but the filmmakers proceeded without her participation.
The documentary combines archive footage, contemporary interviews and a soundtrack featuring traditional Tongan music. Among those interviewed was former All Blacks doctor John Mayhew, who spoke to the filmmakers shortly before his own death. That contribution gives the film a poignancy that no amount of retrospective analysis could replicate.
For anyone who needs a refresher: Lomu announced himself to the world at the 1995 Rugby World Cup, the tournament where he ran over England full-back Mike Catt in the semi-final in Cape Town — a moment so physically extraordinary that it is still replayed whenever rugby wants to advertise itself. A wing in union (the position on the end of the backline, usually the fastest player on the field), Lomu was something the sport had never seen: a 120-kilogram, 6-foot-5 athlete who moved like a sprinter and tackled like a forward.
His career was curtailed by a serious kidney condition. He underwent a transplant and died from a heart attack in 2015, aged 40.
Production of the documentary proceeded with the backing of an $800,000 grant, as 1News reported in August, when the film screened in Auckland ahead of its wider release. The project is produced by Moss Productions Limited (formerly Firefly Films), with Sylver Entertainment and Velvet Moss handling the release, according to The Hollywood News. A trailer dropped in July.
The film opens in New Zealand cinemas on 3 September 2026 and in Australian cinemas on 8 October 2026, as confirmed on the film's social media. International dates have not yet been announced.
What makes this film worth attention is the gap it fills. Lomu's story has been told in fragments — match replays, news articles, a few short television pieces — but never in a feature-length documentary with this level of access to those who knew him best. Whether it can satisfy both the rugby audience that remembers the tries and a broader audience that may only know the name remains the open question every sports documentary faces. The ingredients, at least, are there: the archive, the music, the voices, and a subject whose life had the arc of a screenplay already.
