A still from ‘Highest 2 Lowest’
| Photo Credit: Apple TV
Apple and A24 have released the first official trailer for Highest 2 Lowest, a modern crime thriller directed by Spike Lee and starring Denzel Washington and A$AP Rocky. The film marks the first collaboration between Lee and Washington since Inside Man nearly two decades ago.
Set in present-day New York City, Highest 2 Lowest reimagines Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 film High and Low, itself based on Ed McBain’s novel King’s Ransom. Washington plays a powerful music executive whose world is thrown into chaos when a kidnapping-for-ransom scheme targets the wrong victim. The narrative unfolds as he navigates a city-wide manhunt, with A$AP Rocky playing a central role in the unfolding crisis.
The film debuted out of competition at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival and is scheduled for a U.S. theatrical release on August 15, followed by a streaming launch on Apple TV on September 5. This marks Spike Lee’s sixth film to be showcased at Cannes, and it comes 36 years after his debut there with Do the Right Thing.
Joining Washington and A$AP Rocky in the cast are Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera, Dean Winters, John Douglas Thompson, and Ice Spice. The screenplay was written by Alan Fox.
Highest 2 Lowest was developed by Apple and A24, with production handled by Escape Artists and Mandalay Pictures. Todd Black produced the film alongside Jason Michael Berman. Executive producers include Spike Lee for 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, Peter Guber for Mandalay, and Katia Washington, among others.
Published – August 05, 2025 10:55 am IST
