Director Spike Lee says Highest 2 Lowest shall be his final collaboration with Denzel Washington. The movie, which simply screened at Cannes, is a reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa’s Excessive and Low. Lee’s model takes issues out of Japan and into New York Metropolis, the place a music mogul turns into the goal of a ransom plot. Along with Washington, Highest 2 Lowest options Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera, A$AP Rocky, and Aubrey Joseph. It is going to launch theatrically on August 22 after which hit Apple TV+ on September 5.

Per Deadline, Lee spoke about his long-term collaboration with Washington. The filmmaker remarked how he couldn’t imagine that the pair’s earlier collaboration was so way back. After they obtained to filming Highest 2 Lowest, nonetheless, Lee and Washington “didn’t miss a step.” Given Washington’s retirement feedback, Lee thinks that “this is it” as Highest 2 Lowest may very well be their remaining movie collectively. Take a look at the complete quote from Lee beneath:

Denzel and I didn’t know that our earlier movie, Inside Man, was 18 years in the past. We had been stunned as a result of it felt like yesterday. However we didn’t miss a step.

I believe that is it—5. He’s been speaking about retirement despite the fact that he’s simply executed one other deal. 5 movies collectively, they arise.

What This Means For Denzel Washington And Spike Lee

Picture by way of Warner Bros.

Washington and Lee have been working collectively sporadically over the past 35 years. Their first film was Mo’ Higher Blues, a romance film a couple of jazz trumpeter named Bleek Gilliam. Since then, they’ve gone on to work on 5 movies whole, with the latest being the upcoming Highest 2 Lowest. Whereas three of those titles got here within the ’90s, there was a protracted hole between their earlier film, Inside Man, and the Kurosawa remake that’s coming later this 12 months.

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Washington has been making retirement feedback for years now. In December 2021, he mentioned that there was “not that much left for [him] to do as an actor,” suggesting he could also be winding up his profession. In 2024, he implied that he would retire after his upcoming films, solely to later stroll again that commentary a bit, saying that he would decelerate and solely tackle actually nice initiatives, with out stopping fully. Netflix just lately introduced that Washington would star in a heist thriller, Right here Comes the Flood, which signifies that he’s nonetheless actively taking up performing initiatives.

The First Reactions To Highest 2 Lowest Are Constructive

Highest 2 Lowest being Lee and Washington’s remaining movie collectively places a variety of strain on the movie. Audiences haven’t gotten a Lee characteristic in a few years anyway, so expectations are already excessive, however a remaining collaborative send-off will bear the duty of being a worthy remaining effort. To date, issues look promising for the movie, as the primary reactions to the film from its Cannes premiere say that Highest 2 Lowest is one in all Washington’s greatest thrillers. Hopefully, this film can generate awards buzz and be a worthwhile fifth and remaining collaboration between Lee and Washington.

Supply: Deadline