They say when you make a deal with the Devil, the Devil will usually stab you in the back, and that's what's happened to Spike Lee.
This past August, Spike Lee’s “Highest 2 Lowest,” his first film with Denzel Washington in twenty years, opened in just 200 theaters nationwide. Apple Original Films produced the project, then tapped A24 to handle distribution.
This was a pathetic two-week theatrical bow, and the film hit Apple TV+ streaming right after that. In other words, A24 and Apple was burying a decently reviewed Spike Lee film, starring Denzel — an actor who can still sell movie tickets.
Lee hasn’t really tackled the dump. Before the film, he told Vanity Fair his film “would not have been made without Apple” and that “the industry has changed. Time has changed. So we’ve got to change with the times.”
Now, in a more recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, and over three months since the film’s release, Lee has slightly changed his tune. When asked about the 200-theatre dump, he quite simply states: “I am not happy.”
Lee goes on to give an example about how friends texted him to say they’d have to drive 50 miles to find a theater showing the film. For instance, the rollout in Lee’s home state. The film only screened in a handful of New York theaters, most of them notoriously difficult to track down, and limited to just a few venues in Brooklyn — the very borough where it was filmed and set.
“Highest 2 Lowest” isn’t some niche arthouse film either. If anything, it’s one of Lee’s most accessible works. Perhaps the low-key rollout was because the film hadn’t generated much buzz since its Cannes premiere in May. Having finally seen the film, I can see why: it’s not Lee’s finest hour, and belongs middle of the pack in his filmography.
Still, it’s understandable for Lee to be bitter about the whole thing. He made a film that, in his own words, you should “see in theaters first.” It sounds like not many did. “Highest 2 Lowest” only ended up grossing just over $1M in its limited rollout.