A24 has released the trailer for Spike Lee’s remake of Akira Kurosawa’s “High and Low,” titled “Highest 2 Lowest,” starring Denzel Washington, Ilfenesh Hadera, Jeffrey Wright, Ice Spice & ASAP Rocky. The film will have its world premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival Out of Competition and be released in theaters on August 22nd before becoming available on streaming on Apple TV+ on September 5th.
Plot Synopsis: When a titan music mogul (Denzel Washington), widely known as having the “best ears in the business”, is targeted with a ransom plot, he is jammed up in a life-or-death moral dilemma. Brothers Denzel Washington and Spike Lee reunite for the 5th in their long working relationship for a reinterpretation of the great filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s crime thriller High and Low, now played out on the mean streets of modern day New York City.
What do you all think of the trailer? This is one of the Cannes Film Festival’s most anticipated premieres; in fact, any time Spike Lee has a new film (or joint, as he calls it), it’s a cause for celebration as he’s one of our most cherished filmmakers. Reuniting with Denzel Washington in what appears to be a more commercial endeavor for both of them means it will invite comparisons to the duo’s last pairing in 2005’s “Inside Man.” Considering the screenplay structure Kurosawa’s film had (It was a loose adaptation of the 1959 novel “King’s Ransom” by Evan Hunter), with Spike to work with and pairing Washington up with Jeffrey Wright and ASAP Rocky, set in modern-day New York City, there’s a lot to look forward to with this one. The teaser doesn’t give off much from a visual standpoint but shows us just enough, along with hearing Washington’s dialogue, to get the goosebumps going. Do you think this will be a hit for Lee, or will it be another remake failure of an acclaimed international film like “Oldboy”? Please let us know by sharing your thoughts in the comments section below or on our X account.
