- Highest 2 Lowest, Spike Leeโs remake of the Akira Kurosawa classic High and Low starring Denzel Washington, finally has a full-length trailer.
- Kurosawaโs 1963 High and Low has consistently been hailed as โone of the best detective thrillers ever filmed.โ
- Highest 2 Lowest release date: August 15th, 2025 (US theatrical) | September 5th, 2025 (Apple TV+).
Almost two decades on since Hollywoodโs most consistent star, Denzel Washington, teamed up with Spike Lee for Inside Man, the modern cinema icons have reunited to craft their second crime thriller collaboration: Apple Studios and A24โs remake of the legendary Akira Kurosawaโs High and Low.
The 1963 original โ loosely based on the Ed McBain novel Kingโs Ransom โ involves a wealthy executive named Kingo Gondo (Toshiro Mifune) who deliberately puts himself into debt in a high-risk bid to enact a hostile takeover of a shoe company.
Things become complicated when he receives a phone call from someone claiming to have kidnapped his son just as heโs about to execute his master plan. The second twist? In a case of mistaken identity, the kidnappers have accidentally abducted his chauffeurโs son. Kingo must then negotiate the innocent childโs freedom while assuming control of the company.
Highest 2 Lowest, however, centres on โtitan music mogulโ David King (Washington), who is targeted in a similar ransom plot. A life-or-death moral dilemma ensues. With the trailer above and story context provided, you can probably fill in the blanks. Letโs just hope Lee has learned his lessons from the perils of a tepid remake that misunderstands its source material post-Oldboy.
Washington has been joined by Ilfenesh Hadera as Pam King, Jeffrey Wright as Paul Christopher, Ice Spice in her screen debut as Marisol Cepeda, A$AP Rocky as incarcerated kidnapper Yung Felony, Dean Winters as Detective Higgins, John Douglas Thompson as Detective Earl Bridges, LaChanze as Detective Bell; along with Aubrey Joseph as Trey King, Michael Potts as Patrick Bethea, and Wendell Pierce as Gabe.
Spike Lee has, of course, directed from a screenplay he co-wrote with William Alan Fox. Highest 2 Lowest has been produced by Todd Black (Washingtonโs The Equalizer Trilogy, The Taking of Pelham 123, Fences) for Escape Artists and Jason Michael Berman (Uncorked, Air) for Mandalay Pictures.
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Highest 2 Lowest marks Washington and Leeโs fifth collaboration after Malcolm X, He Got Game, Moโ Better Blues, as well as the aforementioned Inside Man, of which the former co-starred alongside Clive Owen, Willem Dafoe, and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Given the Academy Award-winning actor has earned Oscar nominations from projects handled by all of the names listed above โ and his 10th from A24โs The Tragedy of Macbeth โ Iโd say this oneโs in relatively safe hands. But again, thatโs assuming Spike Lee has learned his lesson.
As for the matter of a release date, after a world premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, Highest 2 Lowest is scheduled for a limited release over in the US on August 15th, 2025, before becoming available to stream via Apple TV+ next month on September 5th, 2025 โ check out the full-length trailer above.
