The crime thriller brings the Oscar-winning duo back together nearly two decades after “Inside Man.”
Spike Lee and Denzel Washington Reunite for “Highest 2 Lowest”
Spike Lee’s Kurosawa-inspired crime drama “Highest 2 Lowest” will arrive in cinemas on August 15, with its Apple TV+ release set for September 5.
A fresh take on Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 classic “High and Low”—itself based on Ed McBain’s novel “King’s Ransom”—Lee’s version relocates the story to modern-day New York City. Here, a music mogul, played by Denzel Washington, is thrust into a tense extortion scheme when a kidnapping goes terribly wrong.

“Highest 2 Lowest” marks Lee and Washington’s first on-screen collaboration since 2006’s “Inside Man.” The cast also includes A$AP Rocky, Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera, Dean Winters, John Douglas Thompson, and Ice Spice.
The film is developed and produced by Apple Original Films and A24, in partnership with Escape Artists and Mandalay Pictures.

Alan Fox penned the screenplay, with Todd Black producing for Escape Artists and Jason Michael Berman for Mandalay Pictures. Executive producers include Lee for 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, Peter Guber for Mandalay, and Juniper Productions’ Matthew Lindner, Chris Brigham, and Katia Washington.
“Highest 2 Lowest” opens nationwide on August 15 before streaming globally on Apple TV+ from September 5.