We already know that Denzel Washington stars in Spike Lee’s “Highest 2 Lowest,” which is being helmed by A24 and Apple Studios. The film is reported to be a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s “High & Low.” Lee hired Alan Fox and Lee to write the script.
In the Kurosawa film, the central character is a shoemaker. In Lee’s interpretation, Washington is a New York record executive. Kurosawa’s film follows an executive at a Yokohama shoe company who becomes a victim of extortion when his chauffeur’s son is kidnapped by mistake and held for ransom.
Lee is now telling Deadline that Washington will actually be sharing a good chunk of screentime with rapper A$AP Rocky as the musician has “the main role” in the film. I assume that A$AP, who plays a character by the name of “Yung Felon,” is the kidnapped son. The rest of the cast includes Ice Spice and Jeffrey Wright.
Lee recently confirmed that “Highest 2 Lowest,” which is currently in post-production, has seemingly set up a “summer 2025” release, at least according to him (via The Gibbes Museum). Lee did want to clarify that the film is not a “remake,” but rather a “reinterpretation” of Kurosawa’s crime thriller.