Director Spike Lee says Highest 2 Lowest will be his last collaboration with Denzel Washington. The film, which just screened at Cannes, is a reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low. Lee’s version takes things out of Japan and into New York City, where a music mogul becomes the target of a ransom plot. In addition to Washington, Highest 2 Lowest features Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera, A$AP Rocky, and Aubrey Joseph. It will release theatrically on August 22 and then hit Apple TV+ on September 5.
Per Deadline, Lee spoke about his long-term collaboration with Washington. The filmmaker remarked how he could not believe that the pair’s previous collaboration was so long ago. When they got to filming Highest 2 Lowest, however, Lee and Washington “didn’t miss a step.” Given Washington’s retirement comments, Lee thinks that “this is it” as Highest 2 Lowest could be their final film together. Check out the full quote from Lee below:

Denzel and I didn’t know that our previous film, Inside Man, was 18 years ago. We were surprised because it felt like yesterday. But we didn’t miss a step.

I think this is it—five. He’s been talking about retirement even though he’s just done another deal. Five films together, they stand up.

What This Means For Denzel Washington And Spike Lee

Image via Warner Bros.

Washington and Lee have been working together sporadically over the last 35 years. Their first movie was Mo’ Better Blues, a romance movie about a jazz trumpeter named Bleek Gilliam. Since then, they have gone on to work on five films total, with the most recent being the upcoming Highest 2 Lowest. While three of these titles came in the ’90s, there has been a long gap between their previous movie, Inside Man, and the Kurosawa remake that is coming later this year.

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Washington has been making retirement comments for years now. In December 2021, he said that there was “not that much left for [him] to do as an actor,” suggesting he may be winding up his career. In 2024, he implied that he would retire after his upcoming movies, only to later walk back that commentary a bit, saying that he would slow down and only take on really great projects, without stopping completely. Netflix recently announced that Washington would star in a heist thriller, Here Comes the Flood, which indicates that he is still actively taking on acting projects.
The First Reactions To Highest 2 Lowest Are Positive

Highest 2 Lowest being Lee and Washington’s final film together puts a lot of pressure on the film. Audiences have not gotten a Lee feature in a couple of years anyway, so expectations are already high, but a final collaborative send-off will bear the responsibility of being a worthy final effort. So far, things look promising for the film, as the first reactions to the movie from its Cannes premiere say that Highest 2 Lowest is one of Washington’s best thrillers. Hopefully, this movie can generate awards buzz and be a worthwhile fifth and final collaboration between Lee and Washington.
Source: Deadline