Denzel Washington And Spike Lee Re-Team

Amazing things happen when you team Denzel Washington up with Spike Lee. The star and filmmaker have collaborated several times over the years – from Malcolm X and Mo’ Better Blues, to He Got Game. But the last time they got together was on Inside Man, almost 20 years ago now – a film that saw them deliver a slick, mainstream thriller. Finally, with Highest 2 Lowest, Spike and Denzel are reunited – and this one finds them back in thriller mode, with a spin on one of Akira Kurosawa’s non-Samurai pics. Their film – hitting cinemas (in the US, at least) ahead of an Apple TV+ streaming release – is a spin on High And Low, a tale of extortion in which a high-flying businessman’s son is kidnapped for ransom. Watch the trailer here:

In Kurosawa’s High And Low, based on the novel King’s Ransom, Toshiro Mifune is the head of a major shoe company. In Highest 2 Lowest, Washington plays music mogul David King, whose son is swiped in the hope of King passing over a fortune. Lee directs this one from a script by Alan Fox, with a cast of notable faces – Jeffrey Wright, Dean Winters and Wendell Pierce among them. Plus, A$AP Rocky is on board (also providing songs), while Ice Spice is also stepping in front of the camera.

Lee’s film debuted at Cannes early this year to positive reviews, and comes to Apple TV+ from 5 September. In the States, it’s getting a cinema release on 15 August – here’s hoping it gets some big-screen traction in the UK too. It’s what a Spike Lee joint starring Denzel Washington deserves.