Spike Lee’s “Highest 2 Lowest” had its world premiere out of competition at Cannes, with just a single press screening held in the cramped Salle Agnès Varda theater. Unfortunately, I missed it—tickets were gone—and won’t be catching it until next week.
Suffice it to say, Lee’s latest—running 132 minutes—has released a full-length trailer. The film will have a brief two-week theatrical run starting August 22, before heading to Apple TV+ on September 5.
Denzel Washington and A$AP Rocky lead the cast in what’s being described as a reimagining of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 masterpiece “High and Low.” The screenplay is credited to Lee and Alan Fox. Reviews out of Cannes were positive — 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, 76 on Metacritic.
While Kurosawa’s original centered on a Japanese shoe executive, Lee’s update shifts the setting to New York City, with Washington playing a powerful record executive who finds himself targeted by extortionists after his chauffeur’s son is mistakenly kidnapped.
“Highest 2 Lowest” also marks the fifth collaboration between Lee and Washington — and their first in over two decades, following “Mo’ Better Blues,” “Malcolm X,” “He Got Game,” and “Inside Man.”
Lee's most recent film, the Netflix-produced “Da 5 Bloods,” was released five years ago. Before that, he directed “BlacKkKlansman,” widely regarded as a critical and commercial comeback. The film earned him his first Oscar nomination for Best Director and won him his first Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Anthony and Joe Russo are directing, and the secrecy surrounding Jupe’s character naturally leaves plenty of room for rumors about whether he could be connected to an established Marvel character,